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nightcall99 · 26 days

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5.4.24

I hate him, you know.

Last night, I imagined myself straddling him from on top of the bed clothes and my hand over his throat, squeezing. I was gleeful. I didn't care about the perverseness of it. I knew only satisfaction because in that moment, I was intent on making sure that I appeared in his mind. My satisfaction grew, as I knew then, that I must have. Hopefully, as a ghoul. I hoped it made him furious. But he seemed to just pull me in closer. This just made me more angry.

The other day, I chastised him for not wanting to tell the student that they'd made an error. He fixed it himself, silently, and in a low voice that only I could hear, said, "I don't want to ruin their self confidence". It was a tiny mistake, just a human error. But I hated him for this show of weakness. But barely a minute lapsed before I realised that I do identically as he does, and therefore had no right to judge. Unconsciously, I had already accommodated to this student's sensibilities. It was a lens from which I operated from, but didn't remember ever doing so. Whatever I was doing seemed to appear fully-formed, already within every interaction, colouring every action. In many ways, I had done it worse, because I'd done it from the start. This is what I always do. Like breathing.

He sees through it, because he is also a mirror. We are like two mirrors facing each other, producing infinite reflections, but neither party wants to examine the images closely anymore. Because, well, we dislike each other now. Or at least that's how the story goes. But I think, we both want to. I think we want to, desperately, to stand before our reflections, our heads pressed against each other and look, together. But I hold on to the dislike, gripping it tightly. I think about his stupid haircut, and how he does not listen to music. I think about how sometimes he pulls his mask down while speaking to me, as if in that moment, I'm going to be disarmed by his looks. What is this, amateur hour? That's the first trick I learnt.

Lately, there's been a silent competition happening between us. We seem to have access to the same abilities. But who can do their job better? Who is the greater puppet master? I win. Right now, I am winning. For every time a customer blows me a kiss, tip-toes over the counter to speak to me, mentions me by name, I am gloating in my winning. Every time a co-worker seeks out my company, whispers a secret in my ear, whenever I share laughter and smiles, I direct my smugness towards him. Why? It's all a giant portrayal of inadequacy, I suppose. No, that's not it. I know the real reason. The day before last, Con (the friendly neighbourhood junkie) was singing my praises to the whole world about how beautiful, how mystical, how spiritual etc., I was. He went on for awhile and eventually somebody had to tell him to shut up. He was just having another one of his episodes (I am but one woman in his revolving door of secret passions, as depicted last month by his graffitiing), but in my eyes, this was the greatest win of them all. Because despite these proclamations at face-value, seeming to be random and wild nothings, at the heart lay an honesty. Not the compliments, it was the energy. I was of course, gloating, but the plain-speaking from this wayward (although lovable) character was like an eerie clanging, coming from a door-knocker in the middle of the night.

When he isn't there, it's easier to feel like I'm not acting. That I'm genuine. I seem to disappear and believe my role completely. Whenever I speak to someone, I am simply talking to them. But when he is in the room, I am unable to detach from the fact that I am using this lilt of my voice because I want somebody to like me. I am saying these words because I want to seem charming and intelligent. He sees through what I put out and when I disappear, he knows it too. Seems to glean it instantly. He must mention it to put me in my place, I think. I might have drifted off momentarily, and his note of it, is like a lance that knocks me down a further few notches. It's a baring of teeth, I suppose, since I'm winning. I don't know if this is true or not but it feels that way.

These days I go out of my way to stand on the opposite side of the room, but when our bodies get close, there is something being transmitted. It goes beyond the sensation of heat. Or maybe it's just your average Joe sexual tension, and my tendency to over-contextualise everything is overtaking the logic that says: this is just a distraction. But even if it's just me that feels it, I can't help but let it happen. I let it happen and then I'll walk outside and see his girlfriend picking him up and my stomach will drop. He and I look at each other with no acknowledgement. He gets in, playing some other role now. Going somewhere where I can't stand and watch and tell him I see through it. I cross the road and keep walking. It wasn't always like this and at the same time, it always was.

I colour my perception with what I have chosen to feel because it keeps me safe. I know that in my hatred, I love him too. I seem to both hate and love him in equal measure. Fine line, they say. I'm not romanticizing the loathing on purpose, in the same way I accept help and feel a sense of burden. I can't extricate yin from the yang anymore. When our eyes meet, there is everything. I see that actually there is no hatred at all. Just great understanding. And then I remember things. When he sensed that I was not there anymore, and was not enjoying the conversation with someone at all and came to my rescue. His concerns about AL, so genuine, because she is suicidal and not in the country. How he is reluctant to bad mouth my intern, anyone, even TC, who is the worst of the lot. The way he always follows a string, right until the end, until it's completed, even when he gets nothing from it. Even when he is the one being used.

And no, none of this is right. I don't romanticize whatever guilt might lie in his mind, to resolve him of it. I don't of mine, either. It is what it is. But we still throw sentences with double meanings in the air, just to see if the other person can still catch it. It's a test. Sometimes I have the sensation that each of us is spying into the key-hole of a room and wondering if the other person is in there. It's a white room, where we cannot go anymore, and honestly never wholly occupied. But I still think about this weird connection and how it leaves me mystified. Makes me want to work harder, makes me use my brain in a way I'm beginning to value more than the other parts. It makes me want to become smarter, better. To conquer. I wonder if that's it. Is he just a code that keeps me tethered to physical reality, through the mechanism of anything but, physical reality?

I don't think I can stand to be delusional anymore, but acknowledging what I've written here doesn't feel that way. I believe that neither of us can spew lies, and that there's no such thing. What comes out, comes out, because it is true in the sense of giving purpose. Even if that purpose is nothing. In fact, it very much feels like I was given a writing prompt from my HS, and I am just following the command. After this morning's dream, it felt only natural to do so. My HS loves to use the characters in my life to express meaning and it's hardly ever literal, I realise that now. Nevertheless, a dream is the truth being pierced free from it's hiding spot. So it's out there in the open now, whatever it is. And that's good enough.

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theminecraftbee · 1 year

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enjoying your new au. Can I please request an explanation of the terminologies so I can enjoy it more?

uhhhh i have been very deep in the weeds on smt/persona stuff in this au so far because i have been approaching it to start as "what if i made an actual persona game" but i don't know how much weird terminology i've used. however uh, let's see, i'll do what i can here, assuming you're familiar with hermitcraft but not persona! here's some terms!

persona: a manifestation of your inner self. when it comes to thing in another medium, it most resembles a stand from jjba, haha. it takes the form of a cool-looking demon and gives you magic powers. typically, your persona can only be manifested in the "magic world" setting that the protagonists fight in over the plot of the game. however, it can be made stronger by events in the "real world", due to being a manifestation of your inner self!

shadow: a creature born of the desires, fears, wants, etc of humanity. takes the form of mythological, folkloric, or literary creatures, as they come from humanity's collective consciousness. they're the monsters a persona user will largely fight. these are all SMT demons - after all, persona is an SMT spinoff! some shadows may belong to specific people, representing things like their repressed self, their distorted desires, or, in this au, the things they most fear. (we'll get back to that.) technically, a persona is a type of shadow, too - it is the shadow of the person using that persona. however, a persona user has accepted their shadow.

wild card/protagonist: our protagonist is special. unlike a usual persona user, he doesn't have a single persona that eventually evolves into an ultimate form. instead, he starts with a specific persona, but has the ability to recruit other shadows to be new personas for himself, and to switch between these personas to use different powers. this makes the protagonist very versatile (and important to having coverage for all the weaknesses you need).

the velvet room: a mysterious place that only the wild card can access. here, with the help of a strange but helpful man named igor and a mysterious attendant, the protagonist can "fuse" two personas to create new, stronger personas, as well as get back old personas he hasn't used in a while.

social link: persona is a game with both a battle aspect and a social simulator aspect. social links are how they affect each other. a social link (or "confidant" in p5) is one of many characters, representing each of the major arcana. this is a bond that the protagonist forms, and can have ten ranks. by bonding with these social links, helping them with their problems, and generally becoming friends, the protagonist can gain new abilities and create more powerful personas that are associated with the social link he is bonding with. additionally, party member social links tend to make that party member stronger. persona is a game about bonding with the people around you! by creating lasting bonds, you become a better person, and grow stronger!

i thiiiink those are the important persona terms i'm using? any other terminology (for example, 'the negative world' or 'sleeping sickness') are things i've made up on the spot. hopefully this helps!

#answered #theoretical persona au

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ageofnations · 2 years

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GVF Headcanon: Being Called “Baby” // jmk

and last but certainly not least of this hc, here’s joshua. thanks for all the support on these. i have some exciting blurbs in the works, and i’ll hopefully be announcing at least one of those soon :)

again, definitely DONT imagine this gif while ur reading

Josh doesn’t really call you baby much, but he still uses every chance he can to call you a more sentimental pet name. He’d much rather use the pet name he came up for you from one of your past hangouts. Probably something like “buzz” after seeing the way your face lit up from a bee gathering pollen from a flower. Maybe even “vel” after realizing that your morning voice reminds him of smooth velvet. You use it more than he does, and he would absolutely never forget the first time you used it to refer to him.

Josh was standing backstage. The roaring crowd chanting “Greta!” was pulsating through his ears. He was so excited to perform again. It felt like it had been ages.

But he was so nervous.

It had been months since their last performance. He knew the fans would support him throughout any worst-case scenario, but he still wasn’t feeling too confident in his abilities.

He wished you were able to come tonight. He had even tried to convince you by getting you extra free tickets for you to bring whoever you wanted. But you had so much schoolwork to get done, and he respected that. He loved how hard-working and dedicated you were to furthering your education, but he still missed you tremendously. He missed how you would give each of the boys a good luck kiss on the cheek, saving his kiss for last, and making sure you gave him a real kiss afterward. The pep talks you would give him before he stepped out on stage usually rang through his mind throughout the night’s performance.

Tonight, he was shaking. He tried to calm himself while he was still hidden away from the audience. If you were there, you would squeeze his hands and help him focus on his breathing. But you weren’t. He thought about you the whole time.

Soon enough, it was time for him to step out on stage. He knew his nerves were apparent, but he hoped they would go away as soon as he started singing. They did, for the most part, but he knew he probably seemed a little off.

So much for a self-fulfilling prophecy, he thought to himself while the first song was coming to an end. He wished he could’ve gotten that good luck kiss.

What he didn’t know, though, was that you were there. You had intentionally been finishing as much of your homework as you could just so you could see him perform again. You had missed the band touring almost as they did, so you knew you just couldn’t miss this performance.

You knew you wanted to surprise Josh with your presence tonight, but you couldn’t help but feel a small twinge of guilt about the ordeal when you saw his demeanor. He was still his extravagant, bold, charming self, but there was something different that only the people closest to him could notice. You knew how much the preshow rituals and traditions meant to him, but you just couldn’t wait to see his face when he realized what all of this was for.

It was a smaller venue, so you had decided on balcony seats. You loved seeing him up close, but you didn’t want to be too stingy considering you could do that literally whenever. You also didn’t want him to immediately see you in the crowd and ruin the surprise before it was even started.

As the guys transitioned from one song to the next, Josh’s voice filled the venue as he began working the crowd with small talk, thanking them for coming and how much he appreciated having intimate moments like these with their fans. He didn’t sound as shaky as he looked, and you were thankful for that on his behalf. He surveyed the crowd, basking in the experience of performing again. He loved the way his fans loved and supported the band, and he loved being able to see the diversity of the audience. As he glanced around, a big yellow poster had caught his eye from the balcony straight in front of him.

He could recognize that handwriting from anywhere.

Josh immediately started smiling as he read the phrase “I love you baby!” written in black marker against the bright background. The crowd was unaware of what he was looking at exactly, but their volume increased at the sight of his toothy grin.

As he focused his eyes, he saw you holding the poster, standing in the balcony with his parents and sister by your sides. Your smile was the brightest thing in the oversized room, and he wished he could have taken a picture of you in that moment. You looked as gorgeous as ever, and seeing you, alongside the rest of his family, melted his heart in the best way. His nerves seemed to dissolve from him, and he could physically feel the tension in his body vanish.

All of his favorite people in the world were in one room together, and he was so happy to share this moment with his other supporters.

I love you, too, he mouthed to you. Tracing a small heart in the air in front of him with his pointer finger.

Of course, the crowd went wild, still unaware of the extremely tender moment you two were sharing.

You couldn’t have been more proud of him as he continued with what you believed to be the best performance of his career.

taglist (you know the drill. lmk if you wanna be added/removed!): @gretavanfleas

and again, thank you for reading; requests are always welcome

sammy’s version

danny’s version

jake’s version

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sub-hoshi-enthusiast · 2 years

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I've finally finished it lmao. It only took forever 🙃 but I'm finally feeling productive so hopefully I'll be able to push out a few more things soon (no promises but we'll see)

⚠️WARNINGS⚠️: It gets kinda angsty with Seungcheol thinking he's weird for liking both of you at the same time but there's a happy ending

Sensitive Pup pt. 3

Ever since that fateful night with you and your lovely boyfriend, Seungcheol's brain had been buzzing with thoughts. Thoughts that had left his heart in the pit of his stomach as well as a headache crashing through his skull. Everyone had noticed their leader's distress as he fell victim to his own insecurities, but no one knew what to do about it. Everytime they asked he would wave them off, claiming he just hadn't been sleeping well. Since the boys couldn't figure out what the issue was, they turned to the one thing that always lifted his spirits- you.

You had been pretty confident in your ability to get the truth out of him since he had always been closest to you, aside from Mingyu of course, but one step into his studio told you it wouldn't be that simple. His head snapped over to you as soon as you entered the room, and a sudden tension smothering the both of you in the small space. You sent him an awkward smile.

"Uh- hey! The boys were telling me how worried they were about you; I just wanted to make sure you were alright."

"O-oh, uh- sorry to bother you I guess. No need to worry though, everything's fine here." He said with an obviously forced smile. You raised a brow as he seemed to shrink into his chair, knuckles white from his death grip on the armrests and his shoulders almost up to his ears as he refused to make eye contact with you.

"You sure? You seem a little… tense. You're not sick are you?" You asked, stepping closer to him to rest the back of your hand on his forehead. The feeling of your soft skin against his made his heart do somersaults as he fought to keep all his blood from rushing up to his face. He hurriedly grabbed your wrist to push it back to your side.

"No no no I-I'm fine really, just a little tired. Now if you'll excuse me I have- uh- work to do. Yes! Very important work so- uh- I-I'll see you later." He didn't give you any time to respond before lightly pushing you out the door, leaving you standing there, dumbfounded by his actions. Were you the reason he was acting so weird? Your heart sank at the thought, trying to think of anything that you had done to warrant this behavior from him as you trudged down the hall.

Seungcheol, on the other hand, was still standing at the door he had just pushed you out of, heart lodged in his throat as he pressed his forehead to the smooth wood in front of him. He pushed a shaky sigh past his lips to stop the tears that had built up from falling down his face. Why her? He thought. Why now? Another deep sigh fell from his lips as he sat down in his computer chair. Why do feelings have to be so difficult?

❤

It had been three days since you had checked in on Seungcheol, and according to the rest of the boys he had more or less returned to his old self. He would still catch himself drifting to thoughts of you and that night but had ultimately decided that his new plan would be better for the both of you. Sure, one might say that ignoring someone that had been your best friend for years because of a silly little crush is childish, but at the moment he could think of no other option. To him, the plan was foolproof- he'd ignore you until these feelings went away and then you could go back to how it used to be.

He was currently in the practice room with the rest of his members, taking a water break after about an hour or so of practice. Woozi had sat himself next to him, talking about anything and everything as they both caught their breath. Eventually Jeonghan and Wonwoo also joined in the conversation, quickly shifting it to revolve around their eldest member.

"Yeah, what was up with you? You barely paid attention to us and just sulked everywhere you went." Seungcheol nervously shifted in his spot at Woozi's question, letting out a small chuckle to ease his nerves.

"Don't worry about it." Jeonghan rolled his eyes with a groan at the answer that the leader had repeated probably a million times by now. Seungcheol only sighed in response. "Look, I was having a little personal issue but I'm taking care of it now. Trust me, everything's fine." Wonwoo just shrugged as he took another sip of his water.

"Whatever you say…"

Seungcheol's attention was suddenly on the other side of the room as the sound of laughter echoed off the walls. All the younger members were on the opposite side of the room laughing hysterically as Hoshi did an over dramatic reenactment of the dance they were learning, making him chuckle as well. Their laughter was boisterous and could probably be heard three rooms down, but one laugh in particular rang in his ears the loudest. His eyes drifted over to Mingyu, who was laying on his back with his arms wrapped around his stomach and tears collecting in the corners of his eyes from how hard he was laughing.

Seungcheol let out a sigh as he looked at him, a smile unconsciously stretching across his face. The younger suddenly opened his eyes, coming down from his laughing fit and locked eyes with him, a smile lighting up his own face as he jumped to his feet. He excitedly joined Hoshi to reenact it for the members who had missed it. How cute. The leader thought to himself. His heart skipped a beat as he focused on the younger's smile that brought energy to everyone in the room. Seungcheol froze, smile falling from his face as he finally processed that his heart had skipped a beat.

Uh-oh.

❤

If you weren't worried before, you definitely were now. It only took a day or two for Seungcheol to go back to locking himself in his office and shrugging off everyone's concerns. The only difference was that this time he refused to even look in yours or Mingyu's direction, and would even deliberately avoid you by walking in the opposite direction as soon as he saw either of you coming. For you, that had been the last straw. Seungcheol could avoid you for whatever reason he wanted, but the devastated look on your boyfriend's face when he realized that his hyung had been avoiding him made your heart shatter in a million pieces. To stop this childish behavior, you had rounded up the boys and concocted a little plan.

Their laughter rang through the hallway as they returned from practice, on their way to the car to start heading home after a long day of work. As they reached the vehicle, however, the youngest suddenly got a look of panic on his face as he patted himself down.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me." Dino exclaimed. The others turned to him with confused expressions.

"What's wrong?" Jeonghan asked.

"I think I left my phone in the practice room." The pout that took over his face made the others laugh. "Hyuuuuung, could you go and grab it for me?" Seungcheol raised a brow at his younger member as he gave him his best puppy dog eyes while tugging on his sleeve.

"Why can't you go get it yourself?"

"Because I need to talk to him about something! It's really really important." Jeonghan interjected, pulling Dino into the car seat beside him. Seungcheol let out a sigh as he realized there was no winning this argument before turning back to the building.

The leader grumbled to himself as he entered the empty room, wanting to just grab the phone and get home as soon as possible. He scratched his head after a quick scan of the room. It wouldn't be that hard to find; it's not like there were many hiding places here. He jumped at the sound of the door closing behind him, head snapping up to look at the wall of mirrors in front of him. You could see the blood drain from his face as he locked eyes with you through the mirror.

"I think you have a bit of explaining to do." You said with a glare, leaning against his only escape. His mouth opened and closed like a fish as he struggled to find the words to say. A sigh escaped your lips as your eyes softened. "Look, I'm not really that angry with you Seungcheol, I just wanna know what's going on. Everybody's worried about you." The man in front of you winced. You hadn't used his full name in so long it sounded wrong coming from your lips- with you he was always Cheolie. I've really fucked this up, haven't I?

"I- I can't- you wouldn't-" as he tried to find the words to explain himself, he could feel his throat tighten and the tears start to build. You noticed how his eyes glazed over and his lips quivered as he wrapped his arms around himself, almost like he was trying to make himself smaller.

"Just talk to me. I promise you, there is nothing you could possibly say that would make me think any less of you." You were directly in front of him now, hands softly rubbing up and down his arms in a soothing motion. Suddenly the floodgates opened. A loud sob ripped from his throat as he seemed to crumble in your hold, his nails digging into his own skin to prevent himself from latching onto you as the reality of the situation hit him full force.

There was no winning for him. He could either tell you how he truly felt, the thoughts of you and your boyfriend that had been keeping him awake at night and get rejected, ruining his friendship with you forever, or he could refuse to tell you and start avoiding you again, ruining your friendship forever. He hadn't even realized the both of you were now on the floor, your hand rubbing circles on his back as he caved in on himself. The sight was truly heartbreaking. You wanted nothing more than to hug him and let him cry into your shoulder, but the death grip he had on his own arms told you that that's not what he needed right now.

The both of you stayed like that for a while as you waited for him to calm down. When his breathing finally leveled and his sobs turned to occasional hiccups, you moved to sit directly in front of him. You gently caressed his face, wiping the tears from his cheeks while he unconsciously nuzzled into your palm. Keeping his eyes closed, in fear he would lose all confidence the second he looked at you, he took a deep breath.

"I- I just- god (Y/N), I'm in love with you. At first I thought it was just some stupid little crush that would go away if I avoided you for long enough, but no matter how far away from you I am, I can't stop thinking about you. From the moment I wake up to the moment I go to sleep you're the first thing I think about. A-and I know I shouldn't be feeling this way cause you and Mingyu are already together but the more I thought about it, the more I realized it wasn't just you." Another sob wracked his body as he curled in on himself even more. "I-I haven't been able to sleep or eat o-or do anything without thinking of the two of you. You just- you look so happy together and I don't want to ruin that with my stupid feelings; I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry…"

You hurriedly wrapped your arms around him as he lost himself in a mantra of "sorry"'s, letting him cry into your shoulder as he shakily wrapped his arms around you. You gently combed your hand through his hair as his nails dug into your back. His body was pressed impossibly close to yours as he tried to return to a normal breathing pattern. Once he had finally been able to do so, you softly pushed him back by the shoulders so you could look him in the eyes. A small sniffle escaped him as you delicately cupped his face in your hands.

"Seungcheol, honey, look at me." You gave him a minute to fully collect his thoughts before he opened his eyes to lock with yours. The soft and caring look you gave him almost sent him into another crying fit; thankfully he didn't have the energy for that right now. "There is absolutely no need for you to apologize to me, okay? There's nothing wrong with the way you feel- there are plenty of people that feel the exact same way. I mean come on, there are so many beautiful people on the planet, do you really think everybody is only attracted to one?" He let out a small chuckle, looking down to the floor as he wiped a few of the tears from his face.

"Heh, yeah I suppose you're right."

"Hey," you said, lifting his chin so he locked eyes with you again, "I'm glad you told me. Even if I did have to force it out of you." You both laughed at your comment before a brief silence passed. Seungcheol silently opened his arms and you immediately dove into his arms with a smile.

"...thanks for not freaking out." You nuzzled up into his cheek that he rested against your head.

"No problem. Just- don't keep things like this from me again, alright?" Seungcheol hugged you tighter.

"I won't, I promise."

The two of you stayed like that for a couple more minutes, melting in the comfort of the other's embrace before you pulled away as you felt your phone vibrate in your pocket. You let out a small laugh at the notification.

💖Puppy💖

Is everything alright in there??

💖Puppy💖

I don't wanna be rude but it's not getting any warmer out here >:(

"Cheolie, is it alright with you if I give Mingyu a quick rundown of the situation before coming back in with him so you can talk things out with him?" A smile bloomed on his tear stained face at the familiar nickname.

"Yeah yeah that's- wait, is he outside right now?"

"Yeah, he said he wanted to be able to talk with you without the others around so you wouldn't be too uncomfortable so he just waited outside in my car. Which apparently isn't good enough for him cause he's complaining about it being cold." You said with another giggle. "Alright, I'll be back in just a moment." With a quick pat on his knee you jumped up and jogged out the door, letting the wide smile you had been bottling up spread across your face. You had a small spring in your step as your brain ran wild with all the possible outcomes of Seungcheol's confession.

Ever since Seungcheol started avoiding you (and long before that if you were being honest with yourself), you had started to rethink your feelings for the charming man. You had always found him attractive and couldn't deny that the way he laughed made your heart flutter the tiniest bit but after Mingyu had confessed you had assumed those feelings would go away. Surprise surprise, they didn't. When you had finally decided to bring it up to Mingyu a few days after the night you three had spent together, you were relieved to discover that he felt the same way. It had been a little awkward for a while but a quick google search let you know that you weren't alone in these feelings. After sharing this information with your boyfriend you talked about what this could mean for your relationship, both of you coming to the conclusion that it was at least worth asking the other man to join you guys as a throuple. Of course right after this discovery was when Seungcheol started to ignore you. Hopefully now that you'd settled that issue you'd be able to bring it up.

Mingyu saw the dopey smile on your face as you approached the car, giggling at the way you skipped to your side. The joyful sound was muffled as you pressed your lips to his the second you could reach them. A small giggle left your lips as you pulled away, seeing that your boyfriend now mirrored your expression.

"What's got you in such a good mood, what'd he say?" You couldn't help the squeal you let out as you excitedly tapped on Mingyu's leg with both your hands in a drumroll type motion. You took a deep breath in to calm yourself down before telling him.

"Okay okay so- long story short, he likes us! Both of us! ROMANTICALLY!" Mingyu's jaw fell open as his eyes opened comically wide.

"NO WAY!"

"YES WAY! He said that he was just confused about his feelings and didn't know what to do so he started avoiding us!" Mingyu went slack in his seat, an overjoyed expression slowly taking over his dumbfounded one. Caught up in his emotions, all your giant puppy of a boyfriend could do was pepper your face with a million kisses. When the two of you finally calmed down, you looked each other in the eyes with so much love it would give any onlooker cavities.

"Are we really about to do this?" You were almost certain that your face was gonna be sore tomorrow from how much you were smiling.

"I think we are." You shared one last kiss before jogging walking to the practice room where Seungcheol was waiting.

The longer you took, the more anxious Seungcheol grew. What if Mingyu wasn't as accepting of these feelings? What if he starts to think Seungcheol will try to steal his girlfriend and start shielding him from you? The longer the leader sat in the quiet room with nothing but his thoughts, the more he started to regret telling you. He was quickly snapped back to reality at the sound of the door practically flying off its hinges with how forcefully it was pushed open.

"Sorry! Sorry I- I didn't realize how hard I pushed it, heh." Seungcheol stared wide eyed at Mingyu as the boy sheepishly scratched the back of his neck. His heart was beating rapidly in his chest, from the loud noise or the younger boy's cuteness he couldn't tell. After a few seconds of silence, Mingyu cleared his throat. "Sooo… is it true then? You like both of us?" Seungcheol tensed as the floor suddenly became the most interesting thing in the room.

"Uh- y-yeah. That's not too weird, is it? I don't want things to get awkward because of this. I just-" he took a deep breath, "I just want things to go back to normal now that I've gotten this off my chest." There was a moment of silence.

"...what if I don't want it to go back to normal?" Seungcheol was sure that his heart stopped at the younger's confession, every worst possible scenario flooding his mind. He snapped his head up to see that Mingyu had seated himself directly in front of him while you were leaning on the door frame, a soft smile on both of your faces.

"W-what?"

"Well~, we've been talking about this for a while now," you started, pushing yourself from the doorframe to walk to where the boys were sitting, "and we were wondering, if you're okay with it, if you would like to join our relationship. As our boyfriend." Seungcheol sat there for a few seconds, eyes almost popping out of their sockets as he processed your words. Suddenly a small, sad excuse for a laugh broke the silence.

"You guys don't have to do all this just to make me feel better. Seriously, I-I'll be fine." You and Mingyu shared a look before he leaned closer, gently cupping the older boy's face in his hands.

"Seungcheol, we're serious. I really like you- we really like you, and we want you to be with us. You don't have to right now if you still need time to sort through and understand your feelings, but we'll be here whenever you're ready." Seeing the overflowing amount of love in the younger's expression made tears well up in his eyes again. A small sob left him before almost tackling the boy in front of him, grabbing his face and kissing him as hard as he could. You laughed at Mingyu's wide-eyed expression before he calmed down and started to return his kiss. They both had to catch their breath when they pulled apart, resting against each other's foreheads as Mingyu laced his fingers with Seungcheol's.

"Soooo, I'm guessing that's a yes?" The leader chuckled, more tears flowing down his cheeks as he nodded his head. He was barely able to mutter a small "yes" before you tackled him in a kiss. A waterfall of giggles left him as you pulled him up so he was sitting in between you and Mingyu so the both of you could pepper his face in kisses. This had not been the outcome he had been expecting but he couldn't be happier as he was showered with all the love he deserved from both of his partners.

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arrantsnowdrop · 3 years

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To be a Jedi - Anakin Skywalker x Reader

Request: “anakin/female!reader getting together fic that involves reader crying because she’s feeling self-conscious about her appearance and feeling worthless and anakin comforting her and calming her down and then accidentally confessing to her?”

Tags: @lothloriien

Warnings: self-deprecation, insecurities, etc. (~2,500 words)

~~~~~

Being a Jedi really sucked sometimes.

Not all the time. In fact, you normally enjoyed the fast-paced, demanding lifestyle you led. Even as a youngling you had taken pride in the ritual and responsibility of being a Jedi, and now, as a Padawan on the verge of facing the Jedi trials, you were more confident than ever that the Force had led you down the right path.

But that didn’t mean you didn’t have bad days every once in a while.

Your Master had been called away on some highly classified mission in the Naboo system, so you’d been spending the week at the Jedi Temple working on some independent research and participating in training sessions with the other senior Padawans. Unfortunately, they were focusing on lightsaber combat this week - something you were definitely not as skilled at considering your specialization in negotiation and communications.

It wasn’t that you were unathletic - you were training to be a Jedi for crying out loud - but it was hard not to feel a little self-conscious about how much you were struggling with the training exercises, especially when your assigned training partner was none other than Anakin Skywalker.

It was just past midday - you’d been training for hours already and still had a few to go. The sun was blaring down on the courtyard where you and the other Padawans were sparring under Obi-Wan’s supervision.

You panted heavily, eyeing Anakin as the two of you circled each other slowly. There was no question as to which one of you would launch the next parry - Anakin had taken the offensive right out of the gate - so all you could do was try to catch your breath and prepare yourself for his next attack.

His eyebrows were furrowed in concentration, a few beads of sweat dripping down his forehead and some of his hair sticking to his face. His eyes were following your every move, tracking you like you were some kind of prey.

You hated this.

Suddenly, Anakin lunged forward, blue lightsaber whirring loudly as he swung it towards you. You groaned, lifting your own lightsaber up at the last possible moment to deflect him.

“Such a slow reaction time,” Anakin teased, grinning as he stepped back to give himself a wider range of motion.

“I thought it would take you longer to catch your breath,” you replied, voice strained as you blocked another one of his strikes.

You’d been friends with Anakin since Obi-Wan took him as a Padawan years ago, offering to help him as he played “catch up” with the rest of you. The fact he’d become such a strong Force-user despite starting so late was something you deeply respected him for, though you were perfectly content simply watching him display these skills.

Being on the receiving end of a lightsaber attack from Anakin Skywalker was not something you would consider enjoyable. You’d spent the whole morning dodging and jumping and somehow still losing every match.

You flinched as Anakin’s lightsaber hit your torso, the sting of the “training mode” setting hurting far less than the sting of your own pride.

“Seven to one,” Obi-Wan called from where he was watching. You groaned, rubbing your temples with your free hand and turning your lightsaber off.

“Hey, you were definitely doing better than time,” Anakin said reassuringly, sensing your frustration. “Improvement is all Obi-Wan is looking for.”

“Improvement doesn’t take away from the fact I’ve lost seven matches today,” you seethed, bending down to re-tie the laces of your boots.

“Perhaps if you worked out a bit more you wouldn’t lose so often,” one of the other Padawans jested. Your head snapped up, face flushing as you sent them a pointed glare.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” you asked curtly, watching them look between you and Anakin uncomfortably.

“It’s just-”

They didn’t get a chance to finish, letting out a small shriek as they dodged a rock flying through the air. You turned around to look at Anakin, his slightly raised hand indicating who’d been responsible for the rock. At least he was using his Force capabilities in your favor now.

“Thanks,” you muttered, reigniting your lightsaber, glancing at the clock above where Obi-Wan was sitting. All you wanted was for training to be over so you could retreat to your room.

“They don’t know what they’re talking about,” Anakin said, a somewhat angry look on his face as he took a fighting stance across from you. “You’re perfectly capable of wielding a lightsaber, and you’d definitely beat them if you’d been paired up.”

“Hopefully,” you corrected him, “hopefully I’d beat them.”

“Definitely,” Anakin insisted, you rolling your eyes as you lifted your lightsaber in front of you.

----

What sucked about getting older was how little you saw Obi-Wan and Anakin. Your Master was responsible for conducting multiple research projects for the Jedi Council off-world, and Obi-Wan and Anakin hardly ever stayed on Coruscant for longer than a few days, so it was unlikely that you’d find yourselves in the same place for a decent amount of time anymore.

Normally, you would’ve used this week as a great opportunity to catch up with one of your oldest friends. This damn lightsaber training was getting in the way.

It had been yet another long day of sweating the equivalent of your own bodyweight and paling in comparison to Anakin’s abilities. Obi-Wan had focused on lightsaber combat in precarious and compromising situations, with one of which resulting in you falling off a two story rock wall.

As you stood in front of the mirror in your room you couldn’t overlook the spattering of bruises covering your torso and arms, all varying hues of blue and purple culminating from the last few days. You sighed, grateful you were getting the extra training you so clearly needed and nervous about what that meant. Imagine you’d been confronted by some Sith fanatic in the last few weeks - who knows how long you would’ve lasted?

Perhaps you were overthinking. You did have an extremely over-skilled training partner who made most other Jedi look incompetent with a lightsaber.

That being said, you still couldn’t shake what that other Padawan had said about you yesterday. Had you really become unathletic? You didn’t think you’d ever really neglected your daily training exercises, but perhaps those weren’t enough.

You sat down on the edge of your bed slowly, shoulder slumped. Maybe you weren’t as capable as you thought. The bruises all over you and lack of any actual visible muscle certainly pointed towards that.

----

The next morning, you skipped breakfast, giving Obi-Wan some offhanded explanation as to why you’d be missing training and heading for the library. You weren’t really skipping for no reason, your Master had given you a list of different research topics for you to look up in the Jedi Archives. Did you really need the extra time to get this done? No, but it still gave you a good excuse to avoid the feeling of physical incapability that accompanied your training sessions.

Plus, you didn’t want to slow the entire group down. Tears pricked at your eyes as you remembered yesterday when Obi-Wan made you repeat some dumb exercise on a floating raft over and over again, even though everyone else had already done it to his satisfaction. It was humiliating.

At least here in the library, surrounded by stacks of holograms and books, you were in your element. Here you didn’t have to move fast or chop anyone’s limb off out of self-defense.

It was sometime in the late afternoon when Anakin stormed into the library, loud footsteps immediately shushed by a swarm of librarians. You couldn’t help but grin softly, eyes meeting his as he marched over to you much more quietly.

“Even the great Anakin Skywalker is no match for an angry librarian,” you teased, him scoffing as he plopped down in a chair next to you.

“And where were you today?” Anakin asked, a strange intensity behind his question. You gulped, gesturing to the pile of transcripts and notes in front of you.

“I was right here,” you replied meekly.

“Since this morning?” he asked, eyes widening in surprise. You nodded.

“What the heck, Y/N,” he groaned, leaning back in his chair. “Obi-Wan assigned me a different partner. Do you know how irritating every other Padawan is to train with?”

“No, I’ve only ever trained with you,” you said bluntly.

“Exactly!” Anakin responded a little too loudly, earning him a dramatic shush from the circulation desk.

“Shut up,” you chuckled, slapping his chest lightly. He rolled his eyes.

“What I mean is that I’ve only ever trained with you, too, so everyone else doesn’t live up to my expectations.”

“What expectations?” you asked quizzically, flipping one of your notebooks closed.

“Working hard but still having a good time,” he answered, waving his hand nonchalantly. “You never sacrifice good banter for anything, I value that.”

“Ah, I’m glad to know you only value me as a training partner for my humor,” you retorted dryly, gathering all your belongings into a pile and standing up. Anakin’s brows furrowed as he looked up at you, a confused look painted across his face.

“Hey, what?” he asked, standing up with you. “What happened?”

“Nothing, just makes sense that you only enjoy my conversation, not anything actually training-related.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” he asked, completely dumbfounded as you started walking away.

“See you tomorrow, Anakin,” you replied, refusing to shed any more tears until you reached your room.

----

The next morning you were too unmotivated to let Obi-Wan know you weren’t coming, deciding instead to stay in bed and do absolutely nothing. Well, you were reading, but what did that really matter to a Jedi? You were supposed to be able to do backflips through the air and take on five enemies at once, and yet here you were wrapped in two blankets feeling like absolute shit. Some Jedi you were.

You held your breath as someone began knocking furiously on the door, hoping desperately they would think you weren’t home.

“Y/N, I know you’re in there,” Anakin called. You groaned, turning around and smashing your face into the pillow.

“Y/N!” he called again.

“Don’t come in!” you shouted back, voice muffled through the pillow.

“I’m coming in.”

“Don’t-”

You never got the chance to finish, bolting upright in bed as the door flew open, Anakin stalking in. You rolled your eyes, just thankful he had kept the door on its hinges.

“What is wrong with you?” he demanded, cringing as you recoiled slightly at his harsh words.

“What do you mean?” you replied quietly, his face softening as he took a seat on the edge of your bed.

“I meant what’s wrong, not what’s wrong with you,” Anakin corrected, taking your hand in his own.

“Nothing’s wr-”

“Don’t give me that,” he interrupted, shaking his head. “Don’t even try, I know you better than anyone Y/N, what’s wrong?”

You kept quiet, focusing on the way his thumb was rubbing small circles on the back of your hand.

“You’ve been acting off since we started training together, is it something I did?” he tried again, genuinely concerned. You laughed dryly and shook your head.

“No, Anakin, you didn’t do anything,” you replied truthfully, looking at him. “You’re perfect, I promise you did nothing wrong.” He gave you a small smile, looking down to where he was still holding your hand. He didn’t let go, only gripped you a little tighter, urging you to continue. You bit your lip, debating whether or not to tell him.

“Do you remember when that Padawan told me I needed to exercise more?” you asked finally. His head snapped up, eyes meeting yours.

“I knew it,” he murmured, nostrils flaring as he tried (and failed) to conceal his budding anger. “I knew it.”

“Anakin it’s ok,” you said, reaching out and rubbing his forearm, his gaze following your hand. “I mean, they were right, if I-”

“No,” Anakin said. “No, they weren’t right. They have no idea how strong you are, how capable-”

“Anakin I’ve struggled this entire week,” you blurted, eyes stinging and face heating up. “I pale in comparison to you, and the other Padawans, at least physically. I thought whatever training I’d been doing had been enough but clearly it wasn’t, so they’re right. I need to exercise more, I need to train more, I’m incapable of defending myself with a lightsaber and I don’t even look like a proper Jedi.” You thrust your bruised arms out towards him. “Look at these, you don’t have them, no one else does. I’m the only one who struggles with every exercise and test.”

You realized you’d begun to cry, tears rolling down your face and breaths shallow.

“Y/N,” Anakin murmured, hurt in his eyes as he took your arms gingerly in his hands. “Y/N, no.”

Your eyes widened as Anakin bent over, slowly pressing his mouth to each bruise on your forearms. You gulped, feeling a little dizzy as Anakin glanced up at you. “You’re an amazing Jedi,” he started, sitting back up straight and pulling you closer to him. You tried to pull away, not wanting to stain his robes with your tears, but he held you firmly. “You’re already stronger than half the people in that group, I’ll have Obi-Wan reassign you so you can kick someone’s ass and everyone will realize it.”

“Anakin-”

He shushed you, resting his chin on the top of your head. You closed your eyes, reveling in the warmth of his body against yours.

“There’s more to being a Jedi than using a lightsaber, anyways,” he continued. “You’re the only person our age in this whole temple that can negotiate with warlords and thieves and murderers and still come back unscathed with five new friends.”

You chuckled, biting your lip as he pressed a kiss against your hair.

“You’re perfect, Y/N,” he insisted softly, you shifting in his arms to gaze up at him.

You were surprised by how nervous he looked, as if he didn’t know how you’d react to what he’d just said, what he’d just implied. You just smiled softly, leaning up to press a slow kiss on his cheek.

“Thank you, Anakin,” you mumbled against his face, grinning as you felt him smile.

Suddenly he pushed himself up, forcing you down onto the bed and collapsing on top of you. You shrieked, bursting into a fit of giggles as he began nestling himself in your hair.

“Shouldn’t you still be at training?” you asked, a wide smile on your face.

“I was sent here by Obi-Wan to fetch you,” he replied smugly.

“So shouldn’t we both be getting back then?”

He propped himself up on his elbows, gazing down at you with a cocky smile on his face.

“I never told him when I’d be coming back.”

You decided you could afford to skip training another day - Anakin probably needed the rest anyways - and pulled his face down to meet your own.

#anakin skywalker #anakin x reader #anakin imagine #anakin skywalker x reader #anakin skywalker x you #star wars fanfiction

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theodora3022 · 3 years

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Selfish Deeds (Yandere! Gojou Satoru)

Summary: Satoru just wants you to be free of danger. If you are so knowledgeable why can’t you understand that he only wish the best for you?

A/N: This is just one snippet of many out of a collection(haven't decide the name just yet)...Since I have not read the manga(anime-only for now) so I just got a vague impression of what Gojou has been through, but that does not stop me from writing him like the cocky bastard he is. Hopefully it is not too OOC(as if yandere variant itself is not OOC enough pfttt) The reader is a stubborn psycho because that is what I am :) Will there be some future pieces that involves nsfw elements? I got a few ideas but no promises.

I blame @popi-the-fatui for my Gojou brainrots. You got your revenge on me by making me attracted to this dubious man. Word count: 1.6k

Banner credit

Warnings: Female pronouns, Possessive behaviour, DELUSIONAL behaviour, non-consensual touching, power inbalance, general yandere content, slight mention of confinement and violence(This is not a healthy relationship dynamic!!!), reader is not a soft UWU girl, kthis is so self indulgent *buries myself into the bottomless pit of shame

It has been nearly fifteen minutes since the headquarter disconnected the call, yet you are still staring at your phone screen with disbelief.

You were supposed to travel to another city for a mission tomorrow, they had notified you of this mission a week ago.

You already got your luggage packed, and your theoretical research on the objective is thoroughly done. Then they dare to inform you: they have found a more suitable candidate! Right on the day before your departure too.

Your curse techniques have already limited you to more of a supporting role for most situations. There are not plenty of missions available for you to begin with. While you are content with educating the fresh blood of the community in classrooms the majority of the time, you still long for field actions every once in a while. It is an essential part of being a Jujutsu sorcerer after all.

Both you and the soft-spoken secretary who made the call know this is nonsense. The higher-ups recognize that you are one of, if not the best sorcerers available when it comes to reconnaissance and espionage.

Letting out a sigh of immeasurable frustration, you swore to yourself that you will find out who is the conductor of this humiliating turn of events. This is going to be difficult since you do not recall having any issues with any of the administration staff recently.

There is no reversing this misfortune, but at least you can be aware of who is responsible for such violation of conduct.

He is only doing this to protect you.

Gojou Satoru tells himself as such, at least.

He is aware of how unfair it is, to make someone less capable to take on the job. But he cannot risk your safety. The man has already got used to your company, and he is not willing to just let you disappear from his field of view for more than a week. Sure, you might have not admitted how much you like him yet, but it is just too endearing to see you flustered at his flirtatious words.

Although there have been some difficulties with rescheduling, he managed to use his connections to exclude you from that first-grade mission at last minute. On the bright side, the sorcerer cannot wait to lend you an ear to vent about how conservative and unfair the higher-ups can be. Maybe you will even say yes to a trip to the newest local bakery! You need some sweet treats to cheer yourself up, don’t you?

But Satoru has never thought about how you specialize in putting two and two together. (understandable since he never saw you in action before).

------------------

Strange, you are not near the usual area in the library.

Sensing his footsteps, you opened your office door before Satoru had a chance to knock.

“We need to talk, Gojou-san.” That expression is new. This is the first time he sees you genuinely angry, which is to be expected.

But somehow he got a bad feeling about this.

You did not even invite him to sit down, instead just standing next to the floor window, arm crossed, with your back turned to him.

“Why would you do such a thing?” You have to use up all of your self-control to prevent yourself from having a full blow-up right at Gojou Satoru. Maintain composure. But it is easier said then done.

Does he think this is funny? To sabotage someone else's sorcerer career like this? You knew you should have kept him out of your daily life, as he is nothing but trouble to you. But you made the mistake of choosing to tolerate him, and some superficial part of you might even enjoy his dallying words a bit too much.

To the extent, you overlooked some red flags. This is a grievous error indeed.

Shit, now that he vaguely remembers what role you play on missions.“(y/n)-chan, what are you saying-” He knows you always act in supporting positions, however, he has overlooked your actual abilities and curse techniques. You collect intel and spy on enemies, how could he forget that? “Don’t play dumb with me. You got your ways, I got mine. There is no use denying what you have done. I thought you out of all people would understand what it means to be a sorcerer.”

This is a violation of protocol, changing mission assignments at the last minute. However, you know this man would not be receiving any solid punishment should you decide to report this. They would say there is “no harm done” and you would just receive a pitiful apology. Suppose you cannot blame them though.

They need Gojou Satoru, the Jujutsu community needs his prowess to keep innocent people safe. He will remain in the system no matter what.

Why are you questioning his motives? Does he have to spell it out for you? Letter by letter?

“You are not a skilled combatant, (y/n)-chan. What if you got yourself hurt?” Or even worse, killed. It scares him to think that you could be gone one day, how he would walk by this office corridor and never sees you sitting behind the desk ever again.

Not much in this world could send Gojou Satoru a chill down his spine, yet the thought of you dying is now on the list. He knows how petty this is, you wouldn’t be the one doing the actual exorcising after all. But the if, the slight possibilty.

He cannot allow that to happen, not ever. Even that means angering you and getting yelled at.

“What am I, some normal lawful citizen? I am a sorcerer just like you, Gojou-san. Putting ourselves on the line for innocents is part of the deal.” You let out a few short, sarcastic giggles, narrowing your eyes at him with fury. “It’s funny that you, out of all people, fail to understand that. If I am needed I will do what I must. If this is some sort of sick joke, stop it already, not funny. ”

Blunt, unrelenting stubbornness. Not like that’s news for him, Satoru has lots of experience with that since the day your path crossed. Although he finds this quality to be adorable most of the time, it can pose major problems like the present.

Oh, he is not angry at you. Satoru is more outraged at himself, don’t you worry. On the contrary, he is rather intrigued by your sarcastic remarks! However…

Instead of walking towards where you stood near the window, the man decides to take a turn towards the door.

That flashing panic within your eyes did not escape his sight.

The illusion figure you were projecting near the window dissipated instantly once he got your left wrist in his hand. Concealing yourself and projecting illusions, a rare techique indeed.

“Clever tactic. Making yourself invisible, projecting a faux illusion to distract me, leaving the door open and staying close to the exit. Your curse techniques are impressive. I almost got fooled, job well-done (y/n)-chan.”

The grip on your wrist suddenly tightens, you have to bite your lip to hold back a hiss of pain. How can he still flash that casual, playful smile when committing such atrocity? Those damned cerulean blue eyes too, you are ashamed of how you tremble and (internally) swoon at it at the same time.

Efforts to get away would most likely be futile, but you have to try. “See, you underestimated your opponent. I do see why you are good with lurking in the shadows now. Do you have any idea what I am capable of though?” Such delicate hands, it would be a shame if they were to bruise.

It’s unnerving how easy it looks for him to maintain a solid grip on your wrist while you pull back with all of your might. You know Gojou Satoru is strong and all, but this simple demonstration of strength is devastatingly effective. “Let go of me, you bastard!”

To your surprise, he softens his grip and you finally distanced yourself from him, panting and guarded. “Who are you to decide what I should and what I should not do? I made it crystal clear on the first day that I do not like you for the slightest.”

You know the walls are thin and coworkers might heard you, but you will have to worry about it later. It is, sadly, a matter of fact that you are somehow attracted to him, but that does not give him the right to use it against you. You must not give in to the temptation.

“You are pretty slow on the uptake for someone so smart. I was thinking of doing this naturally, we can go on normal dates to coffee shops, amusement parks, or even the museum if that is what you wish for. But now I see you do not know how much you mean to me.” Do you think Gojou-san is only flirting with you for the fun of it? It might have been the case in the beginning, but that is not the case since...recently.

He did not stop you again when you turned away, giving him one last menacing look and disappeared from his sight, even if he could see the faint trace of your curse energy. You will return to him and apologize after you calm down, he is confident about that. You value your job way too much to quit.

Then he could finally pull you into his arms, saying he does not mind and forgive your childish tantrums. Satoru does not plan to lock you up in a cage or anything(yet)! The students adore you and they need your guidance. Your clan is insignificant compared to his, your influence? Does he even need to consider that?

Gojou Satoru would always achieve his goals by whatever means possible. You are no exception to this.

#yandere fanfiction #yandere jjk #yandere jujutsu kaisen #yandere gojo #yandere gojou satoru #yandere x you #yandere gojou satoru x you #*screams into the sea of Quanta #I was a clown when I said I won't simp for him #tw: dark content #tw: yandere

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alphadaddyderek · 3 years

Text

Dude, just get out! (we both live here dumbass!) (sterek fic, smut, college au)

Stiles was initially excited to go to college. The freedom aspect of it in particular is what Stiles was the most excited about. Don’t get him wrong, he loves his dad, of course, he does. He didn’t mind living with him, he liked seeing him on a daily basis. He’s all Stiles has. Well, Stiles has Scott, but Scott is attending university in Arizona of all places. Meanwhile, Stiles is going to NYU, so, there’s not a lot of opportunities to see Scott or his father in person.

Not to fret though! Stiles was ready like Freddy to meet new people and, hopefully, make new friends along the way. That’s what college is all about. Supposedly, Stiles wouldn’t know but if all the movies are to be believed then that’s what college is all about.

He and his dad spent days driving up to NYU and then spent hours moving Stiles’ belongings into his off-campus apartment and unpacking. Stiles got a full-ride —thank god— so there’s extra money for him to be able to live in an actual, nice apartment instead of the dorms. His roommate was nowhere to be seen at the time, but that was fine with Stiles. He’d have plenty of opportunities to get to know him. Stiles’ dad left to stay in a hotel for the night because there was no way he was starting the trek back to Beacon Hills this late in the day. So, Stiles was left to his own devices in his new apartment.

Well, he was for about twenty minutes, then his roommate came back and...he’s kind of a dick.

He has a resting bitch face and he hardly likes to talk. Stiles doesn’t know if it’s because the guy doesn’t like him or if he’s just the quiet type. He’s starting to think that the guy doesn’t like him because every time Stiles starts talking he looks annoyed. The dick’s name is Derek and coincidentally, he also goes to NYU. He did tell Stiles his major, but wouldn’t tell Stiles what his favorite color was, which is just plain rude.

Anyway, Stiles isn’t going to let this Debbie downer ruin his college experience, no way!

Stiles decides the best thing to do is to just ignore him. Which is hard to do because the guy takes up so much space, like, he’s actually huge. And he always seems to be in the apartment when Stiles comes back from classes. Which is weird because, dude, don’t you have classes to go to? Nonetheless, he’s always there which means Stiles has to see him all the time and Derek can continue being an asswipe for no reason.

For example, Stiles sometimes forgets to wash the dishes —sue him!— and Derek will chew him out for it. Stiles didn’t know Derek was such a neat freak, but now that he knows he’ll leave more things laying around because Stiles can also be a dick when he wants to be. Maybe Derek should learn to be more personable, then Stiles wouldn’t have to go out of his character by doing such petty things. They’ve only been living together for about a week and a half and there’s already a turf battle going on. Stiles isn’t sure who’s going to win this battle, however, the sight of Derek tripping over one of Stiles’ shoes and the subsequent curse that flies out of his mouth makes Stiles not even care in the end.

--------------

After about a month, it's way more than just a battle. The turf battle has evolved into a war and now, no one is safe.

Derek continues being yucky and Stiles continues to do things to intentionally annoy him, except, now Derek is doing things to annoy Stiles. Like, eating all of Stiles’ Pop-Tarts or, and this is a cruel one, flushing the toilet while Stiles is in the shower. Unfortunately for Stiles, Derek buys gross ass healthy food for himself, and Stiles couldn’t choke down that food to save his life. So, what can one do to even the playing field?

Derek is sitting on the couch in the living room, watching some show about underwater caves. Stiles normally wouldn’t stick around because, despite what Derek might think, Stiles really doesn’t enjoy being talked down to by an abnormally grumpy man. This time though, Stiles sits down beside him. He can see Derek watching him from the corner of his eye, probably waiting to see what Stiles is going to do. Stiles likes to instill fear in Derek. Normally he acts like Stiles is nothing more than a bug he wants to squish under his overly expensive boot, but now? He’s worried. He should be. Stiles is going to pull out his ultimate weapon.

“So, whatcha watchin’?” Stiles asks, plastering a smile onto his face.

Derek gives him a suspicious look. “Why do you want to know?”

Stiles shrugs, smile still present. “I’m curious. This show seems interesting.”

Derek gives him an incredulous eyebrow raise, which is super insulting. Derek thinks all Stiles watches is Harry Potter, Star Wars, and superhero movies. Which is just wrong. But that’s okay. Stiles thinks all Derek watches are documentaries about how to be a functioning human in society, which, newsflash Derek, still needs working on.

A few minutes go by before Stiles decides to speak again. “So, you haven’t told me about your family.”

“That’s intentional.”

Stiles laughs. Derek thinks he can scare Stiles into leaving him alone. Unfortunately for Derek, Stiles has zero self-preservation skills.

“Come on Derek. We’re roommates. Don’t you want us to get along?”

Derek didn’t dignify that with a response —rude!— so Stiles speaks again.

“My dad is the sheriff of my hometown. Been that way for as long as I can remember. My best friend, his name is Scott, wants to be a vet. He goes to The University of Arizona. After that he’s not sure where he’ll go to get his DVM but he’s open to anything.”

Derek turns the volume up on the tv and Stiles bites his lip to stifle his laughter.

Ah, Derek. That won’t help.

“At first I was kinda skeptical about Scott becoming a vet. I mean, he’s a puppy himself, and I love him to death, but sometimes he’s ditzy. He’s a ditzy brunette. But after working at Deaton’s, Deaton is the town vet, for years he’s proved me wrong,” Stiles risks a glance at Derek and he’s scowling so hard Stiles is kind of afraid it’ll get stuck that way forever. “He and his girlfriend, Allison, are kind of having issues with long-distance but they’re high school sweethearts so I’m confident that they’ll work through it. They’re so cute together that it’s actually kinda nauseating. Like, sometimes their sappiness makes me sick to my stomach. I wonder when they’ll get ma-”

Derek abruptly stands up and walks out the room, slamming and locking his bedroom door, as if Stiles is the boogeyman who he’s trying to keep out.

Stiles snickers and grabs the remote to change the channel. Derek gets annoyed when Stiles talks, well, he shouldn’t have started this war then (it doesn’t matter that technically Stiles started it). Stiles has weaponized his ability to talk people’s ears off. So, Derek better watch out.

Hopefully, Derek won’t murder Stiles in his sleep.

--------------

Okay, so, Stiles thinks maybe this whole turf war thing is getting out of hand.

It’s been a total of 3 and a half months since they’ve been living together and Derek and Stiles are on edge around each other 24/7. Stiles has to shower around eleven o’clock at night so that Derek won’t burn him alive by flushing the toilet. Derek doesn’t have access to Stiles’ snacks anymore because Stiles hid them in the back of his closet. Derek stays in his room all day just so that Stiles won't have any opportunities to talk to him. They’re at an impasse, but Stiles has a feeling that the worst has yet to come.

A really bad feeling.

Stiles comes back from a particularly grueling day of classes to see Derek sitting on the couch...and he’s smirking.

That doesn’t bode well for Stiles.

“Hello, Stiles.”

“Uh, hey dude. Why do you look like a supervillain?”

“‘Cause I have a surprise for you.”

Yeah, that definitely didn’t sound good.

“Actually, I am a-okay. I really don’t need the surprise. I appreciate it though,” Stiles tries to make his way towards his room but Derek keeps talking.

“I normally don’t snoop through people’s things, it’s really not in my character, but after you left to go out last night, I heard some weird noises coming from your room. I was trying to ignore it at first, but after a while I went to see what it was. I was going to mention it this morning but you woke up before I did and by the time I had woken up you were already in class.”

Stiles had stopped in his tracks but he still hasn’t turned around to face Derek, because if Derek is going where Stiles thinks he’s going, Stiles is going to need to be able to book it into his bedroom as soon as possible.

Derek didn’t seem too perturbed by Stiles’ silence since he continues with his story. “Imagine my surprise when I found out that it was your laptop making that noise. Now, I wasn’t surprised by the fact that porn was playing, but what I was surprised at-”

Oh god.

“-was that the video you were watching was titled ‘bear fucks twink with huge cock’. And now I can’t help but question your hatred towards me.”

Stiles’ face is burning. He’s never been so embarrassed in his life, which is really a great feat because Stiles doesn’t get embarrassed by much. It’s not that Stiles didn’t notice Derek was hot, like, come on now, Derek is gorgeous. He’s not that much taller than Stiles but the size of his biceps? They’re easily the size of Stiles’ thigh. Derek is bigger than Stiles in every aspect.

Well, he’s not sure about every aspect. Stiles has never seen Derek’s dick outright, but he’s seen him wear sweatpants, and ooh boy, that bulge gives Stiles the impression that Derek is hung like a horse.

Stiles still hates Derek because Derek still has his asshole-ish ways. Case in point: right the fuck now. But, you can hate someone and still want to fuck them, right? Hate sex exists.

Derek is patiently waiting for Stiles to respond, and Stiles has never been good at staying silent, so it’s only a matter of time.

Stiles finally turns around to face Derek and clears his throat. “That- that means nothing. People watch shit like that all the time. Plus, you hardly qualify as a bear.”

It’s a weak excuse but, hey, Stiles is grasping at straws here.

Derek tilts his head to the side in agreement. “True, but if that was the case, why do you seem so nervous?”

Stiles can’t think of a reasonable response in time and Derek knows it.

Derek smirks again and Stiles really wants to knee him in the dick.

“Do you wanna fuck me?”

Stiles narrows his eyes at Derek. What the fuck is his endgame here? Why is he being such a dick?

Oh yeah, because Derek is a fucking asshole.

“Fine,” Stiles says through gritted teeth. “I find you attractive. I watch porn about big, hairy men fucking twinks because I want you to fuck me. Are you happy now? Jackass.”

Stiles storms into his room and slams the door. That’s a perfect example of why people can’t be pretty and nice. It’s genetically impossible.

Stiles lets out a sigh and dumps his backpack on his bed before stripping out of his clothes and getting into the shower. He stands under the spray for ten minutes, just praying to the cosmic gods out there that a black hole will appear and suck the whole human race into nothingness. After waiting for a few more minutes, and his prayers going unanswered, he washes himself then gets out to dry off. He wraps the towel around his waist and opens the door to find Derek standing outside his bathroom door. He shrieks (a very manly shriek by the way) and covers his chest with his arms, not that that’ll hide much.

“Derek, what the fuck are you doing?”

Derek’s eyes do the slowest sweep in fucking existence down Stiles’ body and Stiles feels his cheeks flush. Ugh, why are the cutest guys always assholes?

“I came to apologize. I was being a dick-”

“What else is new?” Stiles interrupts. Stiles is rewarded with another smirk.

“-and I took it too far. I’m sorry I embarrassed you.”

Stiles looks at Derek for a second. They’ve never apologized to each other when they did shit, and even though Stiles didn’t take it as far as Derek did, Stiles can’t stand here and act like he wasn’t also an asshole.

Stiles sighs. “I’m sorry too. I was also kind of a dick. Not as much as you, but still.”

Derek laughs a little, and Jesus H. Christ, how is a laugh sexy? “Apology accepted.”

Stiles holds his hand out for a handshake. Derek puts his hand in Stiles’ and they shake on their newfound not-friendship-but-also-maybe-not-complete-dicks-to-each-other-ship.

“So,” Derek starts after they drop their hands. “wanna have sex?”

Stiles might’ve actually choked on his own fucking spit, because what?

“What?”

“I asked if you wanted to have sex.”

“Where is this even coming from? You hate my guts. Every time I talk you look like you’re going in for a root canal.”

Stiles is so confused, he’s also getting hornier by the minute, but right now, the confusion is outweighing the horniness.

“I don’t hate you. Yeah you talk a lot, and it was so annoying at first, sometimes it still is, but I got used to your incessant chatter.”

Stiles knows he looks dumb, his mouth is gaping and everything. “I think maybe there was something in the water because I must be high. We’ve lived together for over 3 months and you’re telling me that you actually want to have sex with me?”

Derek shrugs. “Yeah. Just because you can be kinda annoying that doesn’t mean you’re not cute. Plus, people have sex all the time, that doesn’t mean we have to, like, date or whatever.”

Stiles rolls his eyes. Derek’s so romantic, how has Stiles been able to resist jumping his bones for this long?

“You just embarrassed the hell out of me, why would I ever want to have sex with you?” Never mind the fact that Stiles definitely does want to have sex with him.

“Maybe you don’t. If not, then fine. We can just go back to how things were. If you do, then we’ll have a great time.”

Stiles is still struggling to wrap his mind around all of this. Derek wants to have sex with him? In what universe does that make sense?

Apparently in this one.

Stiles does this sort of shrug that basically portrays well, what the fuck? Okay then. “Okay. I guess this is happening then.”

Derek smirks for like the fiftieth time in thirty seconds and if Stiles was a stronger man he definitely would’ve kneed Derek in the dick, but clearly, Stiles is weak.

Very, very weak.

“My room or yours?” Derek asks.

“Mine. Since it’s right there,” Stiles points behind Derek and, lo and behold, there’s Stiles’ bed.

Grabbing Stiles’ hand in a surprisingly gentle gesture, Derek walks the three feet from the bathroom to the bed to lay Stiles down.

Derek gets on top of the bed and is sitting on his knees by Stiles’ feet. He pulls his shirt off like he’s in Magic Mike or something before throwing it onto the floor without a care in the world. Jesus, it’s like his muscles have muscles. Stiles starts feeling a little insecure about his body. He’s got muscles, but, he’s not, like, ripped like Derek is. Stiles likes to think he has somewhat of a swimmer’s body.

Looming over him like a fucking creeper, Derek stares down at Stiles. “You know, you’re very pretty.”

Stiles refuses to admit that he blushes at that because he’s not pretty. If anything he’s handsome, some may even say gorgeous.

“Can you just get on with it?” Stiles throwing a scowl in Derek’s direction.

“Bossy. I kinda like that,” he strips his sweatpants off and throws them down too. Now he’s only in a pair of gray boxer briefs and, god, Stiles wants to suck his dick so badly. Which is weird because he’s really not all that experienced with blowjobs, he’s given maybe two blowjobs in his life. Whatever, Derek has a great dick okay?

Derek tugs at the towel around Stiles’ waist. “Is this okay?”

Stiles nods and then the towel is gone, and Stiles is laid bare for Derek to gaze at his leisure. And boy does Derek gaze. He does another slow sweep down Stiles’ body, except this time it’s even more intense because now Stiles is naked.

“You’re not a virgin right?” Derek asks while rummaging through Stiles’ bedside drawer and pulling out the lube. First of all, it’s rude to go through people’s stuff! Second of all, how the hell did Derek know his lube was there? Although, where else would lube be?

“Nope. There will be no deflowering of the Stiles today. Sorry to disappoint.”

Derek shrugs before popping open the lube. “I’m not one of those weirdos who pops a boner at the thought of popping someone’s cherry.”

Stiles chuckles, like actually chuckles. Who knew Derek was even capable of being funny?

Stiles pulls his legs up and hooks his hands behind his knees. The position exposes Stiles’ hole to the extreme and it makes Stiles blush. Just because he’s not a virgin doesn’t mean that he doesn’t get nervous or embarrassed during sex.

Derek knee-walks closer to Stiles and squirts some lube onto his fingers. He puts one hand on Stiles’ right thigh while the other one gently and slowly breaches his entrance. Fuck, his fingers are thick. Thicker than Stiles’ that’s for sure. Stiles definitely isn’t shy about fingering. He fingers himself all the time, but it’s been a while since someone else’s fingers were up there. Stiles is nervous and excited about it all.

Derek doesn’t spend too much time with the one finger, quickly adding a second one and that’s when it starts feeling good. Derek’s fingers are about an inch away from his prostate and Stiles is about to curse him out until Derek presses both fingers against his prostate and Stiles has to bite his lip to stop the loud ass moan that almost escaped his mouth. Judging by the look on Derek’s face, he knows he touched Stiles’ prostate, and being the asshole that he is, he has a cocky smile on his face.

After scissoring those two fingers inside Stiles for a few minutes, Derek adds a third finger. The stretch is definitely there, but hey, Stiles likes a little pain with sex. He can be kinky sometimes.

“Okay. I’m ready, come on,” Stiles says. He was starting to get impatient. He just wants to get dicked down already, damn.

Derek gently removes his fingers and gets off the bed to pick up his sweatpants. He reaches into the pocket and retrieves a condom out. Stiles’ mouth drops.

“So you just knew I’d have sex with you?”

“I didn’t know. I just hoped.”

That smarmy little bastard.

Derek gets back in bed and, finally, removes his briefs and...

Holy mother of god.

Well, maybe not the mother of god. That’s blasphemous as fuck. But! The sentiment is the same because wow. Stiles is glad he didn’t knee him in the dick because that dick is too gorgeous to cause serious injury to. He’s not like porn star big, but it is big and long too. And it’s uncut, which Stiles has a weird sort of kink about. He loves uncut cocks. Yeah, that’s a good-looking cock right there.

Derek unwraps the condom and rolls it onto his cock. He then grabs the bottle of lube that he placed on the bed and squirts more out before slathering a generous amount onto said cock. He makes Stiles move his hands before replacing them with one of his own, the other is at the base of his cock, lining it up to Stiles’ hole.

“You ready baby?” Derek asks.

“Call me baby again and I’ll dropkick you in the throa- oh fuck.”

Of course, Derek chose when Stiles was mid-threat to start pushing his cock inside. Geez, that is seriously a big cock, even the fingering didn’t make it burn any less. Derek gently pushes his cock in deeper before pulling it out, then he pushes it in a little deeper than he did at first before pulling it back out again. He repeats that until his cock is seated all the way inside, his balls to Stiles’ ass. Then he stops and waits. There’s sweat gathering above Derek’s eyebrow and some is even rolling down his temple. Needless to say, Derek isn’t as unaffected as he’s trying to be. Which makes Stiles feel kind of great actually.

“Okay, you can move now,” Stiles informs Derek. And when Stiles says Derek goes to town, he really means that.

Derek puts his other hand behind Stiles’ left knee and pulls out all the way, not even the tip is inside, before thrusting back in. Hard.

Stiles’ breath gets forced out of him at the movement. This truly is hate sex, kinda. Derek said he didn’t hate Stiles, but he certainly doesn’t like him all that much. At least, not yet. Who knows what will stem from this. That’s something to think about when Derek isn’t pounding him into the mattress.

Derek delivers a thrust that nails Stiles’ prostate dead on and Stiles makes this super embarrassing sound, like a high-pitched keen. He knows he’s not going to live that down after this.

After that, Derek is consistent with the hard abuse on Stiles’ prostate, and Stiles is getting close to orgasm embarrassingly fast. He isn’t too sure he’ll be able to last much longer. Although, Derek doesn’t seem like he’s going to be able to either. If the grunts and groans he’s letting out are anything to go by.

“Unh, fuck. Derek-!”

“Yeah, you’re gonna come?”

Stiles frantically nods his head and grabs his own cock to start stroking himself. Derek thrusts harder if that’s even possible, and within a few seconds, Stiles is coming all over his stomach.

“Fuck, Stiles,” Derek groans and thrusts one, two, three more times before stopping with a deep, guttural moan. He almost sounds like an actual bear and Stiles can’t help the giggle that escapes him.

Derek gives him a weird look but his lip quirks up in a maybe sort of smile. “What’s so funny?”

“Oh nothing,” Stiles gives him a shit-eating grin.

And since it’s already been established that Derek is an asshole, he grinds and his cock brushes against Stiles’ oversensitive prostate causing Stiles’ whole body to convulse. He slaps Derek’s arm.

Derek pulls out and lets go of Stiles’ legs. They’re sore from being in the same position for so long but Stiles can’t even care. He’s sated and all he wants to do now is take a nap. Stiles stretches his whole body like a cat while Derek disposes of the condom.

“Okay, that was fun. If you want to annoy me, I’ll be in my room.” And with that, Derek walks out of Stiles’ room to go to his own.

Derek was definitely a dick, but Stiles could deal with him. Especially if they continue to fuck like that.

Holy (not) mother of god indeed.

#sterek #sterek smut #stiles stilinski #derek hale #sterek fic #sterek au #smut #My fic

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whosscruffylooking · 3 years

Text

The Purest Things-Something There

Warnings: Mentions of murder. Canon-typical violence.

Word Count: 2.5k

a/n: i am so beyond sorry that it has taken this long to get another chapter out. this doesn’t follow my post schedule that i had previously given, but hopefully this can be a good place holder till later this week.

The Purest Things Masterlist

May 2008

Bookend: "It took me quite a long time to develop a voice, and now that I have it, I am not going to be silent." -Madeleine Albright

"There's no way I'm doing that," you rebuttal, "Hotch? Tell them it's a ridiculous idea." He stays silent, but his mouth twitches slightly.

Oh, you son of a-

"Richards is a classic narcissist. The challenge of facing a tough, fearless, and intelligent woman will give him his high. Narcissists are drawn to goal-oriented women, women who are resilient, adaptable, yet decisive. Show him that you are a good listener, but don't praise him."

"Think of him like a wild animal," Spencer adds, "You don't feed zoo animals because they are unpredictable. Remember, narcissists have an extraordinary sense of self, and when you praise his ego, you enable his unstable and feeble mind. He doesn't hear praise; he hears how much better he is than you. If you don't feed the beast, he won't have the stamina to combat your confidence later."

"Once you disarm him, I'll come in and challenge his confidence," Hotch concludes.

Could you have said that less attractively? That would have been more helpful.

Aaron cheekily smirks as if reading your mind but quickly looks away. You wish you didn't blush so fast-that you had some sense to keep your emotions to yourself. In a second, your cheeks are rosy, and you are convinced that everyone in the room can perceive your feelings as if you wrote them on little notes and passed them around.

You grunt and roll your eyes, "I hate all of you."

Derek snaps his fingers at you, "Lose the jacket."

"All men are pigs," you spit while removing your blazer, leaving you in a fitted tank top and your tight-legged jeans that hug your curves in all of the right places.

Derek wolf whistles at you, and you hurl your jacket at him. Aaron lets his eyes slide up and down your body, his gaze lasting longer than it should. He swears that as you stride into the interrogation room, your hips swing a bit farther side to side than usual. It is the very action that radiates courage, a mind coupled perfectly with itself and the world around it, concentrated and solemn.

Typically, Hotch would divert the task of adulating a narcissist to Prentiss, but he knows if anyone can take command of someone's attention, it's you. How does he know? Because you captivate him far more often than he cares to admit, defying his very being with every interaction. You are a secret weapon that he wants to keep concealed until you can allow your talents to shine genuinely. Aaron knows that now is your moment. ++++ "What is it that I am being accused of? Fraud? Embezzling?" The sharp-dressed businessman questions; his gaze is straying further below your eyes than you care for.

Pig.

You throw a file down on the medal table, and it slides across, stopping right in front of the man, successfully redirecting his stare somewhere other than your chest.

"Try murder."

His eyes widen, "You're joking. Come on, where are the hidden cameras? I'm ready for you to yell candid camera now! I am Milton Richards, for god's sake!"

"I don't know!" You shrug your shoulders. "Why don't you explain this to me, Mr. Richards. I'm just as confused as you are. What reason could a successful, charming, handsome, wealthy business mogul like yourself possibly have to kill someone?"

"Oh please," Richards scoffs, "This isn't an interrogation. You've already pegged me as guilty."

"I don't agree, but you have the right to feel how you feel."

He purses his lips, leaning as far away from you as physically possible while handcuffed to the table.

"Milton, why did you try to escape a moving vehicle when my team apprehended you?"

"Just felt like it, I guess," he shrugs mockingly.

"So, something just randomly compelled you to flee the custody of a federal agent?"

Richards leers at you. You stand up and walk around the table, leaning down next to him, "I get it. I do. You're a suave, wealthy, and ruthless business tyrant. You have to cover your tracks-do what it takes to survive."

He raises his eyebrow, turning to face you, your faces mere inches from each other. I got you now.

"Trust me. I know probably better than anyone what it takes to maintain a position you fought your entire life for. I'm a woman; I had to claw my way into the F.B.I. Do you think it's easy being surrounded by a team filled with uncontrolled testosterone? Womanhood requires balls; I see you keep your balls in your pants, cool, cool. Mine are on my chest, up top. As you've so duly noticed."

His eyes flicker to the aforementioned area, and you restrain yourself from gagging.

"And you know what, Richards? I use them every day of my life. Because in my line of business, sometimes I have to take the backdoor to get things done. Why do I get the sense that you were the same way before you became Mr. Wolf of Wall Street? How else does a kid who grew up in the projects become a multi-millionaire mogul by 27?"

"We both know what the other is capable of. C'mon, let's show each other a bit of respect here. No games, let's be upfront with each other," you appeal. ++++ Aaron watches as you work the room like it is your stage. You play the part perfectly. He admires your ability to absorb things and then responded rather than immediately react to douse firey circumstances rather than add to the flames.

Derek finds himself next to Aaron, smugly observing Aaron's visible fascination with you.

"She's fantastic, Hotch," Derek beams with pride. Hotch holds his breath behind pursed lips in an attempt to barricade himself from the feelings of foolish jealousy he feels creeping up.

I know she is. I think I recognize it a little too well.

Aaron knows that Derek will be scrutinizing his reaction to the commendation and refrains from responding.

Of course, Derek reads this lack of a reaction as a response itself. And he finds it strangely amusing. ++++ "Here's what I think happened," you twirl your finger around the manilla file, "I think you were having some money troubles and your top investors caught onto your little games. When you sat down, you volunteered the crimes fraud and embezzlement as reasons you assumed we brought you into custody. You listed them like they are apparent reasons for us to charge you. Those are two areas you are clearly willing to take the fall for and have cause to oblige by."

Opening the file, a photograph is revealed within of a murder victim. Richards shifts uncomfortably in his seat, stifling a cough.

"Do you know this man?"

"N-no," he claims as his eyes flutter from the photo to his hands.

Surprised by his blatant tell, you glance back at the two-way mirror.

Turning back to the suspect with a newfound spark in your eyes, you press harder, "Strike one. Try again."

"Excuse me?"

"The man in the image is Walter Barone, the C.E.O. of Jameson Whitely Associates...your accounting firm. Your company was going bankrupt, Milton. There was nowhere left for you to turn. So, do you want to try that again? This time, answer my questions directly and honestly."

"Walt had a reserve saved for me worth $5 million. Last week when I approached him about dipping into the fund to keep the company afloat, he withheld it. I wouldn't kill him for it, though."

"Well, see, that's the problem here, Milton. When he was found, that little reserve of yours was nowhere to be found. Naturally, you can assume where my mind goes when I try and put two and two together, right?"

"I told you," he says, clearly provoked by your accusation, "I wouldn't...didn't kill him."

"Wasn't it you, in your book, right? Who said, 'It's surprising what a man will do when properly motivated?' I don't know about you, but losing everything you'd ever worked for and having your one saving grace held from you seems like pretty good motivation."

Silence. "Oh, come on, Milton, now is not the time to act so arrogant!"

He slams his fists on the table; you abstain from being startled in an attempt to show him no fear.

Wild animals can smell fear.

"Arrogant, huh? Why don't you step up and prove me wrong? Prove you're better than me. You despise me for being successful; I despise you for your assumption that you could waltz in here like a tramp and seduce me into giving myself up. What? Too harsh? I'm not sure you and I are even the same species."

Hotch bursts into the room, and you quickly signal for him to stand down. I've got this.

He gives you a prideful wink. I know you do.

Somehow Aaron being in the room gives you that last little push to conclude this grand performance of yours. Slowly, you begin clapping dramatically for his little one-person comedy act. He certainly knows how to play the fool.

"Is that a dare? Challenge accepted. Your entire life, you have suffered from a disease... a fragile ego. You have built these walls of detachment so that you can conveniently solicit status to hide your true, weak self. You lash out because you feel it compensates for your insecurities."

"The truth is, despite being at the top of the corporate chain, every day you lead the life of a loser. You are willing to destroy people psychically, emotionally, and mentally. And you view that as a cause for celebration. You are the embodiment of a loser and abject failure."

Hotch touches the small of your back; you shiver at the sudden warmth that fills your body in reaction to it. He hands you a piece of paper, one that seals Richards' conviction.

"Milton Richards, you are under arrest for the murder of Walter Barone, Hank Simmons, Frankie Lisbon, and Jillian Ryder."

Hotch motions for you to do the honors.

"By all means, lead the way."

Holding yourself proud and tall, you waltz over to Milton and hoist him out of his chair. Inclining your lips to his ear, you tell him contemptuously, "You lose." ++++ "Way to go, superstar! You had us all on the edge of our seats," Derek says, wrapping his muscular arms around you. You breathe in his cologne and savor the sensation of being in his arms.

Since the day you met Morgan, you've felt a draw to him. Not in a romantic way, though you proudly admit he is hands-down one of the most gorgeous men to set foot on earth. He gives you the feeling of safety, warmth, and brotherly love. His hugs rejuvenate you after a long day of work, and you see to it that neither of you leaves the office without receiving your signature embraces.

Aaron observes you and Derek's shared embrace from the shelter of his office. Before he can comprehend his movements, his legs carry him to the terrace overlooking the bullpen.

What do you think you're doing, Hotch? Pull yourself together. They’re friends. Just like you and her are.

Dismissing his inner voice of reason, he calls out to you, "Y/L/N. See me in my office."

You grimace at his tone of voice but abide by his request.

Derek chuckles, "Green is not that man's color."

"What?" You turn to him, confused.

"Goodnight, superstar."

"Night, handsome," you blow him a kiss, trying to brush his comment out of your mind. ++++ "You summoned?"

Aaron's whiskey-colored eyes meet yours. The tempo of your heart quickens like a metronome.

"You did a phenomenal job in there."

"I've learned from the best." You. I've learned from you.

He clears his throat, "Those things you said...a-about the men on this team. Is that how you truly feel?"

Shocked by his willingness to believe such a misleading statement, you gasp and close the distance between the two of you.

You must have some nerve to believe that I would ever view you as anything other than the most upstanding man I've ever met.

"Aaron, what I said in there is further than the truth than I would have liked to have strayed. In fact, it was with you that I finally felt equal as a human being-like someone recognized me for my intellect and self-worth. A woman can't acquire that regardless of how 'equal' this world claims to be."

Aaron finds himself lost in your eyes, absorbing every meaning behind your words.

"It was a freeing feeling having someone I respect so highly show me similar respect."

No. Don't stop talking. Please. Hotch blushes at his inner monologue, incapable of comprehending precisely what kind of influence you hold on him.

"Anyway," you laugh, brushing away a strand of hair that had fallen in your face, "Sorry for my little tangent."

"No," Hotch interjects firmly, "Never apologize for expressing your feelings. I assured you last year that I'll always be available as a sounding board for you. That offer still stands."

Your gaze softens as you study him, his intentions, his mannerisms. He notices your pupils dilate, and it commences a chain reaction within his veins. To him, it's not the fact that you radiate beauty on the outside. Sure, you are physically fit and put in the effort to maintain your appearance. Naturally, that would be why someone like Derek Morgan would have you on his radar.

But, Aaron has gradually grown accustomed to the kindness that you seem to reserve just for him. He sees the differences between how you act around the team versus when you step inside his office or are alone in the car with him, even the way your confidence elevates when he walks into the interrogation room.

These differences aren't unique to just you, though. Aaron notices the same changes in himself when he is around you. Never did he expect to go home from work and lie in bed thinking about the way your eyes strayed on his for a moment too long, or how as he completed paperwork at his desk, he'd replay in his mind a cheesy joke you told the team. He knows how you like your coffee from observing you in the break room one too many times.

One cream, two sugars.

Your laughter warms his body from the inside out. When you talk about your favorite comic book with Prentiss and Morgan, the twinkle in your eye never fails to bring a smile to his face. He knows that you hate getting out of the car when it rains because your perfectly straightened hair that you spent god knows how long on will undoubtedly curl.

His changes were less evident on the outside. But, he knew that deep down, there is something there that wasn't there before.

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space-city-traffic · 3 years

Text

yet again im back on my bullshit so... (gazes with mixed feelings at the TV show Firefly) i could fix him.

my extremely long thoughts about my Own Personal Good Version of Firefly (with plenty of spoilers for the show and the movie) under the cut:

things that are getting axed first thing no question:

out with the whole “let’s add in a thin veneer of Chinese cultural aesthetics out of context for ~flavor~” deal. just no.

instead, let’s hire some actors from a bunch of different cultures and work with them to figure out how their characters would bring those cultures into space with them!! and also hopefully bring some experiences with immigration/alienation/travel into it, since the Whole Core of Firefly is about how humanity always brings our doomed and silly and stubborn and unique warmth with us even into the cold void where nothing is familiar or homey in the slightest.

let’s respect our sex worker character shall we?

i do appreciate that Inara’s work as a companion is described as legitimate and well respected in the show. however please stop having your captain and hero call her a wh*re every five seconds against her clearly expressed wishes and portraying this as just a totally acceptable thing

let’s be more respectful of our characters of color and also have some more diversity, shall we?

others have put it better than me but yeah, the way Zoe and Book are treated is very uncomfy, and the rest of the show is depressingly monochromatic. come on let’s do better.

stop the weird confederacy hat tips

again others have pointed these out with much more thoroughness than I could, but the names of some characters and locations, as well as some of the language used to describe the browncoats, has uncomfortably confederate vibes. instead i propose we very Clearly tip our hats to the Alliance equaling space capitalism instead! you can’t go wrong with space capitalism as a villain.

don’t! make! the! psychotic! character! violent!

listen i love River Tam with my whole heart. but you should absolutely not portray your only character with psychosis as violent because of that psychosis!!!!!!! and yeah, a huge part of her character is that her brain got fucked up by the alliance and so she hallucinates and is also a super ninja. but like. she doesn’t need to be a super ninja for her character to work, okay? the crew does not need to be scared of her for her character to work, okay??? more on this later bc it would take a lot of care and nuance to make her character work but i really think it can be done

things we are absolutely keeping:

found family tropes my fucking beloved

this should be self evident. this is why the show is as appealing as it is despite its flaws, at least in my eyes.

malcolm reynolds, the knight in dusty armor

there’s something so appealing to me about what Mal stands for. because at his core is this ridiculous, silly, stubborn, doomed devotion to what he thinks is important and right, a romantic idealism thinly covered by cynical cowboy platitudes that he thinks make his bleeding heart totally invisible. and he is so obvious and entirely incorrect. bless. this is a man who will do anything for his family, who charges into swordfights to defend his friend from a man who wants to turn her into an object despite having no clue how to hold a sword. at his worst, he starts brawls in bars just for the martyr’s thrill of being persecuted for supporting the right; at his best, he inspires downright religious belief from his crew because he represents a romantic and chivalrous and doomed dedication to the right thing over any practical concerns. and then he throws a “selfish” quip over it with 100% confidence that everyone fell for his clever distraction and believes him to be a dirtbag. he’s oblivious and ridiculous and god he makes me want to be a better person because he’s just so goddamned sincere. stupid, but sincere. 10/10 himbo. <3

Mal and Inara ultraslowburn friends to enemies to friends to lovers to enemies to friends to lovers to friends to...

there’s nothing i love more than a ship that’s just two people who know each other way too well, and they’re each the only one who knows the other well enough to call them out on their bullshit. the way Mal and Inara interact in the show sometimes makes me uncomfy but like. the core of their relationship has to stay.

space western aesthetic

i need the cows on a spaceship scene to stay like i need air okay

that sweet sweet religious shit

mal, who lost his faith in gd and a whole lot else during the war. who lost his faith in himself, and now feels he has to hide the part of him that still wants to be good, because he knows he can’t be anymore, and he feels like it’s embarrassing for a guy like him to want something so unattainable. who takes a preacher on board, and the preacher has lost something, too. the preacher has his own past, and his own questions. but not questions like the observant neurodivergent girl, the one who wants to interact with and understand this thing that’s so important to him, but it just doesn’t click with how her brain works and she feels like something needs to be fixed, either the Bible or herself. and Mal takes care of them all, and slowly, he begins to find gd again, not in a prayer but in humanity. humanity doesn’t need to be fixed, like the alliance thinks. the shining imperfect strawberry sweetness of it in his family’s smiles is something to be worshiped and served and devoted to. and he finds he has something to believe in again. (and his crew find that he’s given them someone to believe in, too. and maybe suddenly he’s a saint.)

and finally, my brilliant ideas as to what i would like to add:

TRANS WOMAN KAYLEE RIGHTS

listen her femininity is so important to me okay? it’s so thrilled about everything that’s pretty, from dresses to the spaceship’s electric innards, and it’s so non-traditional and grease stained until it’s not and it’s pink and ruffly and twirly, and she never sees any of it as a contradiction, because none of it contradicts, it’s all just her! her gender is warmth and love and prettiness, feeling pretty and appreciating the pretty and making her friends’ days pretty too.

i want us to find out she’s trans in that episode with the ball, and i want us to find out alongside Mal who just never asked or never realized. Kaylee gasps and squeals at the dress in the shop window and Mal makes an off handed, ill considered comment, and then... someone yanks him aside and hisses a few very significant words in his ear. and suddenly he remembers what the blue white and pink she painted all over the engine room means, and he knows he has something to make right. so he buys her that dress himself and lets her know just how pretty she looks, and when he walks into that ball with her displayed on his arm like something precious, he looks the proudest out of any man there. and she notices. for a few seconds, of course, until there’s chocolate, and ‘nara, and a chandelier—and some horrible girls, but she’s used to that, until—suddenly, she finds her people. a group of old men who light up when she jokes about compression coils and whack presumptuous boys who ask her to dance. they adopt her as a treasured granddaughter, and Mal is beaming at her like a proud dad, and she finds that one of her new elderly friends gazes a little too long at her bracelet, and so she gives it to xem and teaches xem a few new words, and... it’s a good day, huh? it’s a really good day. (of course, then the captain has to go and punch somebody in the face, but it was a real nice party up until then.)

also she and Simon are both transhet t4t im correct and you know it

time for a better River Tam

the first thing we’ve established is that this version of her is not unpredictably violent and the crew is not scared of her!!!! it makes no sense to take a kid who’s primarily brilliant, experiment on her brain, give her telepathic powers....... and tack on the fact that she also has super strength and speed and dexterity and what not, AND say that they programmed her to be super violent. no! no. not only is that extremely harmful rep, that’s also just stupid.

instead!! my version of River is in fact not terrifying to the crew, but is actually the one they feel safest around. River has always been totally blunt, she was one of those kids you could tell realllllly early was autistic, and she doesn’t like being disengenous at all. so you can always trust her to tell the truth and not play weird passive aggressive games or have any hidden agenda, which makes her just a really chill person to be around. also, one of her longtime special interests is music and dance, so whether or not she’s nonverbal on a given day, there will always be some sort of beautiful sound when she’s around. she does have the singing voice of a dying crow unfortunately but that’s ok bc Simon’s is even worse and they’re both incredibly competitive so you’ll at least get free entertainment out of the affair.

my version of River does have psychosis and hallucinations because of the trauma of the experiments, and they are really troubling to her. she and Simon work together to find ways to cope and meds that help, and it’s a process, but there are some things that help.

the only thing she gained from the academy was the ability to hear people’s thoughts and sense the future a little bit. and yeah, that led to her picking up a few spooky secrets at the beginning, which, yikes. and for a while, it was hard to figure out which voices were real and which were hallucinations. but around her friends, she always feels safe to ask “did you just think about triple cheese burritos or was that just a me thing?”, and they’ll always tell her the truth no matter how embarrassing their thoughts are, bc it’s important to all of them to respect her and help her sort accurately through what’s reality and what’s not. and bit by bit, she gets better and better at figuring out what kinds of things tend to be telepathy and what kinds of things tend to be psychosis, and that each one feels a little different. and because of the trust and respect and support of her found family she’s able to do that in a safe environment!!!

trans man Simon rights

listen i wanted to keep him as just a side note on Kaylee’s list but he is my son and he’s important to my heart so here goes

out on the outer rim where Kaylee’s from, gender ain’t much of a big deal, there’s an individualistic quality to life out there, and so if the trail you blaze is the trail of a woman or a man or neither or both, that’s respected even in the rare cases where it’s not outright encouraged. but in the inner planets, where competition and connections and public faces and family names are everything, you have to be what’s expected of you to survive. you can’t change your brand, you can’t be anything other than what your family planned for you since before you were born, it’s incredibly hard to survive in such a hyper competitive environment, and so your very identity becomes just a tool in how to market yourself for better success.

needless to say Simon (just as autistic as his little sister and also very trans) fuckin hated it there. but he was very good at it. correction: he was very good at his very specific field of STEM, good enough to where people stopped talking about how cute he looked in bows and started talking about how impressive his work was from a very young age. and his work had no gender. he could be whatever he wanted to in equations. so that was where he could express himself, and gd, he got so much praise for it, he never wanted to stop.

not until he discovered that his sister needed him, and ran away, and needed a disguise, and realized... suddenly, every stifling rule and prying eye was a million miles away. he was freefloating, freefalling, with none of the charted paths he’d been following all his life... so you know what? fuck it. he’s always enjoyed the name Simon. and since it’s not on any legal records, it’ll make him just that much more untraceable.

and on Serenity, starting over with new people who never knew him before his transition feels like an unbelievable blessing that just dropped right into his lap. he has to keep up the secrecy, he has to make sure they never find out who he used to be, because gd, it’s so nice when they look at him and say his name right, and he doesn’t know if he can handle losing that, not when it’s so new and so important to the person he’s finally becoming. but then one day, the unthinkable happens, the wanted posters for his arrest have an old name on them, they’re looking for the Tam sisters, and... nothing changes. the crew of Serenity could not give even a tenth of a percent of a fuck, and it doesn’t seem like they even know they’re supposed to. huh. that’s new. Simon could get used to that, he thinks.

i’m sure there’s more i could add, but it’s 4:30 in the morning now, so if more occurs to me, ill simply add it in a reblog tomorrow. if you’ve read down this far, i am in love with you. please let me know your Better Firefly ideas, too, bc im always down to yell about this show!!!

#firefly #Serenity #in which i choke out joss whedon with my bare hands and rescue his characters and give them better homes #ollies fix it series #malcolm reynolds #ollies personal good firefly canon

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enhyupn · 3 years

Text

the perfect date! five

masterlist | previous | next

a series in which enhypen’s 02s competitive side shines through when trying to get your attention. the only solution to end this tiring rivalry? three dates with each of them in the course of three weeks.

paring: 02s x gn!reader

word count: 4.6k

genre: fluff, angst, high school!au, someone’s gonna end up heartbroken

warnings: swearing, violence is mentioned, jealousy, arguments + there might be grammatical and spelling errors in this 😞

ask to be on taglist, updates are irregular

a/n this was a rollercoaster to write but also i tried to think about what i would do in that situation 🤨 i lowkey hate how i wrote tho but!! i tried to tie it in with the next part so

taglist: @dchannie17 @simluvbot @jaeyuni @neocrush @penghoons @min-arya @sunooflowerss @badroseee @cha-raena @ghjasksdk @strawr @jaypen @nanachuu @nikisboxysmile @softkons @kisshoons-main @enha-woodzies @hwngslove

groggily walking up to multiple missed calls instead of your usual alarm wasn’t what you were exactly expecting on a wednesday morning. you couldn’t even feel your arm moving to pick up your phone on your bed side table, the numbness in your fingers slightly going away as you accepted the call.

you hadn’t even spared a glance at the caller id, not even caring at the point if a scammer was the one spamming your inbox. you wanted to get over with the call as soon as possible. you contemplate for a second, your brain not fully awake asking yourself if you should put the phone on speaker or not. your decision was made with a drowsy tap, the sound of a familiar voice flooded your bedroom (crossing out the scammer possibility).

“i’m outside, i can see your window from here” the oddly cheerful voice took over your senses, snapping your eyes wide open at the volume. you sit up from you bed, confused why he was so energetic at six thirty in the morning. you couldn’t help but crack your back and arm into the mic, the stiffness going away with the cost of jake cringing at the sound. “why did you need to do that at full volume?”.

“it’s therapeutic” you retaliate, your voice still sounding a little rough due to just being woken up. you had to fight the urge to bicker with jake, knowing it wouldn’t end well with your drowsy state of mind. you sigh, one leg out of the bed with the full intention of flipping jake off from your bedroom window. “you know what time it is, right?”.

“you know what time sunghoon wants us there at, right?” you couldn’t help but roll your eyes when opening your flimsy curtains, a self reminder to change them in the later week. “there you are” a smile intertwining with his words. you couldn’t help but dismissively shake your head when your eyes caught a glimpse of jake’s figure waving at you enthusiastically, you could even see his smile brightly shining on you.

“get inside” you ask him with your eyes slightly closed, your hands running through your hair sleepily. “i’m scared that if you stay there for any longer you’ll be reciting romeo and juliet to the whole neighbourhood”.

“rise up, beautiful sun, and kill the jealous moon. the moon is already sick and pale with grief because—” his short lived shakespeare performance was dropped in an instant when you ended the call. with your eyes following him as he made his way to your doorstep, a light giggle escaping absentmindedly. your eyes widened at your action, not expecting it at all.

“what the hell was that” you almost slapped yourself in shock, shaking it off you drop your phone onto your bed (throwing it would be the more realistic word honestly). a loud groan coming out of your mouth when your tiredness finally caught up to you, a reminder than you had woken up just to go to school. “jake sim did not just make me giggle like a school girl” you whispered, embarrassed by yourself as you held up your school uniform in disgust, a wave of shudders falling onto you.

even without the presence of jake in front of you, you knew that he was almost impatiently waiting for you in your living room right underneath you. with one last tug at your obnoxious tie, you take a closer glance at your mirror. your hands fidget around your face, hair and anywhere you thought you needed to fix up on. humming the lyrics of a catchy song stuck in your head, you feel your heart suddenly drop at the memory of the previous night before.

as dramatic as it may look, you were not ready to see jay later in the morning. embarrassing yourself and being potentially confessed to was the first part of your worries, having to face him after doing those was now currently your main problem. you contemplate for a moment, eyes trained your your reflection in the mirror as a way to build your slowly deteriorating confidence. with a deep breath you closed your eyes, the calming air surrounding you finally taking it’s place—

“are you ready?” multiple loud knocks interrupted you abruptly, scaring you to the point of almost screaming. you knew from the ability to comfortably go around your home like it was his own, that this impatience came from jake himself. you roll your eyes as you roughly grab your bag from the corner of your room, your expression not growing any more happier when you swung your door open.

“you’re so annoying, you know that right?” you mentioned as you stomped past him, the boy only chuckling to himself seeing you so agitated. he followed you down to your dining room, his feet feeling light as he bounced around you excitedly.

“we’re also going to be late” he mentions, pausing his words to look down on his oddly expensive watch. you chew on a piece of toast that seemed to be a little stale, your eyes bringing themselves to the shiny object in admiration. you knew that jake was well off but from the looks of it, he was definitely more than just well off. “do you like it?” his words catch you off guard.

“what?” you blink a few times, you feel yourself snapping back into reality watching jake chuckle to himself quite theatrically. you scowl slightly when he shook his hands in the air to dismiss his previous comment, using two of your fingers to try and shove in the rest of the toast.

“you’re gonna choke on that you know?” jake mentions to you as he walked around your living room. you hadn’t even noticed his wandering curiosity until you heard his voice in the background. you shake your head, trying to send the message to him that you’ll be alright. with your eyes trained on your best friend, you couldn’t help but grin softly to yourself at the sweet expression on his face.

you noticed in his hand was a picture of you from your first day of high school (jake nowhere to he seen since you two didn’t start to be aquatinted until later on in the day). his eyes light up in almost delight at your small awkward figure in front of your school, his head turning excitedly towards you with the picture held out in his hand. you laugh at his enthusiasm before making your way to him, not forgetting to gulp the last piece of bread in your mouth.

“you’re so cute in this!” jake’s compliment only brought him a light slap on the shoulder in retaliation, a shy smile on your face hiding from him. he brings the photo closer towards you, you could almost feel how amused he was from just standing beside him. “how have i never seen this before?” he questions, his eyes still glued to the old picture of you.

“because it’s embarrassing” you express, a sigh escaping your mouth as you take the picture from his hands. “i can’t believe you saw me looking like this and was like, let me talk to them!” an energetic snort coming out of your nose. jake only stared at you sheepishly at your words, knowing the full truth behind his introduction to you.

“well actually—”

“it’s almost seven” you exclaim in shock. jake closed his mouth in almost in an instant, his shy attempt to reveal his actions behind the first day of school. “the bus comes on ten minutes” you place a finger onto your chin to think about what your next move should be, run to brush your teeth and inevitably be late for the bus or be on time for the bus but brush your teeth in the gross bathrooms on campus?

“are we gonna go?” jake questions as he fiddled with the strap on his bag. you stare at him for a second, the action creeping out the boy just a little bit due to your trained eyes looking more like a glare than anything. “hey, earth to—”

“jake, i’ll be back in about...” you back up briskly, your feet already guiding you to your bathroom. you could see the boy’s eyes roll, knowing all too well what you were about to do. this hasn’t been the first time you’ve almost caused the two of you to be late for the bus, this time might also just be added to that already long and tiring list. “i’ll be out in four minutes! get you’re feet warmed up we can make the bus in five minutes without stopping!”.

“y/n you can just—”

“jake trust me!” you shouted from your bathroom, slightly muffled from the toothbrush in your mouth. even with your annoying actions, jake didn’t seem to let that shy smile falter on his lips. with his hands running through his hair he only tried to think of the positives in this situation, your timing was always mostly good (a 60% chance you were actually going to make it to the bus on time!).

i’ll trust them jake thought to himself hopefully. when i have i ever doubted them?

jake wishes that this was the only time he would ever doubt you. as much as he loves you, he knew that standing at the bus stop watching your hourly bus drive off wasn’t something he was going to instantly forgive you for. he takes a glance at you, your apologetic expression taking over your face as you pouted your lip. even with his overbearing crush on you, nothing was able to control his soon to be burst of anger.

“you told me—”

“i only estimated!” you put your hands up in the air defensively. you were now chewing your cheek in dissatisfaction at your timing just being a second off, maybe you should of jumped in front of the bus to force them to let you in or even something along those lines. “hey, maybe we should—”.

“i’m not taking anything from you right now” jake stopped you, you nod admitting your mistake knowing if you were him you wouldn’t trust yourself either. “god” he sighs out in frustration, your guilt creeping in when he started to rub the temples of his forehead in defeat. “you text sunghoon we might be late, if we start walking now we might be able to be there in twenty minutes”.

“huh— oh okay” you spoke timidly, “i’m sorry by the way”. your eyes avoiding his in embarrassment from this whole situation, staring at your moving feet as you made your way down the road to your school. jake’s eyes softened at your awkwardness, even though you messed up he still couldn’t find himself hating you with everything in him (only hating you with some parts of him).

his eyes trained on your hands, rapidly typing out a message to sunghoon in an attempt to redeem yourself for your wildly incorrect timing. his stare traced your ever changing expressions, your lips turning into a flat line at sunghoon’s dissatisfying bland reply before plastering a small smile on your face. jake knew well that it wasn’t the time to get suspicious or jealous, already being mad at you for a short period of time was enough negativity with his feelings surrounding you. nevertheless, he tried to take a peak at your phone, wanting to see what exactly placed a small smile on your face.

his eyes seemed to fail him as all he could get were motion blurs of your screen, the messages and words shaking through his eyes making them unreadable for the most part. he could only catch a small jay on the side of your phone, a small scowl appearing on his face at the sight. yes, the two did previously make some sort of oath to not play the jealous side character but jake couldn’t help but prepare himself for that role. with his tongue poking the inside of his cheek, he looks back at your face, your side profile almost causing him to cough on his spit. blank silence falling right onto him.

why didn’t he know what to say? talking to you was easy but in this moment, the confrontation of asking you what exactly you were with jay scared him so much that it almost rendered him speechless. he kept opening his mouth over and over again, no words appearing as he, at the same time, tried to think of a way to start a conversation with you.

“jay told me something last night” jake silently thanked you for subconsciously reading his mind. he watched as you placed your phone into your pocket, your breathing slightly uneven due to the speed walking. “i want advice because i genuinely don’t know what to think and you’re the only person in my life currently”.

“what did he say?” he couldn’t let his curiosity show that much, sounding a little bit uninterested through his words. “was it something like—”

“i think he confessed to me last night” you exclaimed blankly. jake almost felt himself stop in the middle of the street but, the fact that you two might soon feel the wrath of an annoyed sunghoon was the thing that stopped him from doing so. he stared at your eyes simply blinking with no emotion, like you were trying to figure out how you were supposed to feel yourself in that moment. “i asked when he started and stopped liking me— something like that but, then he said he’s never stopped liking me?”.

“i think that honestly speaks for itself” he forced out a laugh, trying to appear calm compared to the loud screaming in his head with himself. he noticed your head turning to you, a sigh letting out as you aggressively placed your hands into your school blazer in an attempt to express whatever you were feeling.

“i know but— never mind just forget it” you try and begin to ramble, stopping yourself from feeling more exposed than you already were. at one point, through your very quick thought process, you decided that keeping your feelings in wasn’t going to do any good for your relationship with jake. plus, you trust him and you desperately needed advice on something like this. “i’m just confused, how has he liked me for this long? and i didn’t even have a clue that he liked me in any way too”.

“what are you trying to say?” jake shakily asked, the pace of your walking already slightly quickening with each word the two of you were saying. he could feel rocks and sticks under his shoes but it didn’t stop him from stably walking along with you.

“what i’m saying is” you let a sigh out blandly, the exercise not really getting to you just yet. “and without being a bitch about it too, jay has the capabilities to have any person he likes like him back? why me? some loser in his middle school class that helped him and sat beside him a few times?”.

“don’t call yourself a loser” he rolls his eyes in your self deprecation. you chew on your lip in discomfort at his reply, unsure what to say to it. “you have so many qualities that are loveable, if anything you have the capability to have anyone you like, like you back”. jake could feel his ears heat up in embarrassment at his mini praise.

“you’re only saying it because you’re my best friend” you mumbled quietly, not really wanting him to hear you in all honesty. you try and look at the view around you, the embarrassment now seeking in due to your negative feelings. “sorry about this—”

“i’m not saying it as your best friend” jake sternly confessed, taking a gulp at his soon boldness. “i don’t know if you’ve forgotten but, i’m saying it as someone who’s in love with you”. your head automatically turned towards him, like something about his words were magnetic. you’ve heard this all before but, hearing it again with more sincerity only caused your cheeks to heat up uncontrollably. your heart loudly beating in your chest as you tried to steady your feet, unsure if his words were about to trip over at any moment.

“i know more than anyone why someone would like you” he continues, not stopping to even see your expression at all. you feel your feet slow down to a final stop, standing with your eyes staring at his face blankly. yet, even with the plain look on your face, it spoke almost a million words to jake. “you’ve known this since i’ve confessed, i’m not just your best friend y/n”.

you wince in your head to yourself at the mention of your unofficial rejection, your missing reply to his confession stinging you as much as it did to him. you could see his hands slightly shake, the emotions now catching up to the rest of his body. you could feel your eyes almost melt at his awkward yet bold stance, knowing that he was very serious about what he was saying.

“i didn’t know i was this good at keeping things in but this has bothered me ever since i’ve told you i liked you yesterday” you noticed the flutter of cherry blossom leaves fall around him, perfectly contrasting the mess of a scene unfolding right in front of your eyes. if anything, this was a scene made for movies but, upsettingly, you were the one that had to personally make jake feel so vulnerable like this. “please, give me an answer. i don’t care if you can’t return my feelings i just want some sort of reply— please”.

“i— i can’t” you finally had some input into this. with your mouth slightly agape your words disappeared, the shock rendering you speechless. you stood in front of him, with your eyes shaking, unsure what exactly you should do.

you would of never expected this on a morning right before school, before a meeting with another two possible love interests nonetheless. you didn’t know how to reply to him, one part of you wanted to say no, the fear of losing your best friend over something like a relationship not working out scared you to no end. the other part wanted to say yes, but you were unsure where this answer was genuinely coming from. you definitely have, in the past, thought of being romantically involved with jake but soon then quickly threw the thought away in embarrassment.

you only had one answer for him, the genuine yet unacceptable i don’t know. you didn’t know what the future would hold for the two of you in either of the yes or no options. you played with your fingers, avoiding as much eye contact with the boy as you could. in the corner of your eyes you could see his feet shuffling on the spot, a clear sign he was growing more agitated with your silence.

“i get it” he softly stated, you could of sworn you could of even heard a scoff escape his lips too. “i don’t know what i’m saying, jay was right! why am i always pressuring you in these situations? i’m supposed to be someone that comforts you— i’m supposed to—”

“what are you saying jake? you’re always there for me so why am i— why am i the one always hurting you?” you demanded to know, your small tears beginning to well up at your own words. the both of you finding undeniable truth in your sentence, even if it did hurt you to admit that.

“can we just forget this ever happened?” he pleaded, his knees growing weak from the obvious shaking in his joints. you knew even with the conversation only lasting a mere ten minutes, it’s completely drained everything from the two of you. “i shouldn’t of asked... i’m sorry—”

“i want” you began, your eyes closing absentmindedly trying to think harder about your next line. “i want to say yes jake, i desperately want to”. you bit your lip, the action not at all soothing your state of mind.

“then why can’t you?” he began to insist, the previous eagerness reappearing at the sound of hope. “you can say yes—”.

“i’m confused!” you cried out, your hands grabbing the top of your head in distress as you tried to comprehend this situation. “i’m confused about everything! jay, sunghoon— you! everything is happening so fast, nothing is making sense to me; it’s all nonsense. jake i want to say yes, i desperately do, but it’s not that easy for me”.

silence fell on the two of you after your miniature rant, the two of you finally running out of things to say. at once, your eyes were locked on his, the intimacy almost driving you mad yet again. you could see his chest mirror yours, the heavy yet soft breaths escaping his mouth from the excessive conversation. you shove your hands back into your pockets, trying to find comfort in the sudden warmth rushing to your hands.

“can we go back?” jake was the first to declare something, the look of defeat taking over everything in him. “go back to last week, what we were? just best friends that hated world history together?”.

“and forget about all of this?”

“it’s for the best y/n” he sighed, realising how stressful this was for the two of you. “just for my sake? you don’t have to properly answer me until you’re ready”.

“is this what you really want?” your face softens, your feet bringing you closer to the boy. your heart stings when you see him take a step backwards, his feelings well too obvious through his actions.

“of course not” he answered, his fingers rubbing the back of his neck bitterly. “but, i’m not going to be stupid about this. you’re too important to me, if i let you go like this i would beat myself up for the rest of my life”. a sad chuckle escapes his lips, one that spread a frown across your mouth.

“i don’t know—”

“just say yes” he in some way demands, the time for your answer impatiently ticking away. his previous emotional state being replaced with an irritated mood that wanted questions to he answered as quickly as possible. his eyes rolling was the last thing you had expected, causing you to scowl in annoyance.

“fine” you cross your arms defensively. you feel your feet start to make their way down the road, anger now taking over you at his sudden change of mood. you turn your head, getting a look at jake’s standing figure staring at you in confusion. “i thought we were forgetting about this whole thing?” you hadn’t meant to come off as aggressive as you did, the harshness almost making you flinch.

jake just stared at you blankly, watching you toughly turn around before, what it seemed to be, stomping the rest of your way to school. the thought of your festival booth meeting now being a past memory, knowing that the two of you would definitely be late when you finally arrive to the school. he lets a sigh out before taking his first step, the wind making him struggle with not looking like an idiot that just got his heart broken for the second time by the same person.

in the back of him mind he made a reminder to tell sunghoon that the two of you were sorry for missing the meeting, knowing he had a soft spot for you, he wouldn’t be that mad if jake explained exactly what had happened. he lets out a long and deep sigh, the feeling of pure annoyance lacing it. he knew he couldn’t predict what the future was about to hold for the two of you, staring at your obviously irritated stomping in front of him hazily.

scarily enough, the realisation that another person was also observing this mess of a morning hadn’t dawned on him just yet. in fact the same person had watched this whole argument go down.

lee heeseung with wide eyes tried to soak in what had happened, the boy firstly only noticing you two as a coincidence but stayed on purpose when he had noticed your conversation didn’t really go down the road he had originally assumed it would go. when he had noticed that you two finally made a lengthy distance from him, he grabbed his phone out of his pocket in pure surprise, fumbling with it already knowing he was going to talk to.

heeseung: your crush y/n... do they have a best friend named jake?

sunghoon: Yes, why do you ask? Also, why aren’t you at school yet?

sunghoon: Can you see them actually? They are late for the meeting we have, actually they’ve just about missed it. Very unlike Y/N.

heeseung: i think there’s a problem .

sunghoon: I already know about Jake’s crush on Y/N, I doubt there is anything worse than that.

sunghoon: Jay has a crush on them too. Popular person.

heeseung felt guilty when he had finished typing out his reply, he knew how much sunghoon liked you and telling you that you indirectly admitted to jake that you liked him too was probably very problematic to sunghoon’s already fragile feelings. he takes a deep breath in before hitting the send button, scared for his reply.

heeseung: i think y/n likes jake too...

sunghoon: Oh, really?

sunghoon: I can’t say I didn’t expect that. Of course they would like him, they’re perfect for each other.

the boy felt himself frown at his phone, knowing well that behind sunghoon’s reply was an emotional wreck. sunghoon been holding onto that crush on you for almost a year, he had told heeseung his secret the very first moment he had realised it. hours before heeseung received multiple texts from his friend, excitedly telling him about walking with you home and how he had successfully flirted with you. heeseung had known sunghoon for his whole life, being neighbours did honestly help the situation along with their parents being friends. the boy can’t ever recall a time where sunghoon had feelings that were even remotely romantic, only ever being confessed to instead of the one confessing.

heeseung: i’m sorry hoon

sunghoon: No, it’s okay! They’re a good friend anyways so it’s good that I can still talk to them :)

heeseung: sunghoon i promise to you that i will help you

sunghoon: There’s nothing to help with, I’m satisfied with the situation now

heeseung knew very well that sunghoon wasn’t satisfied with the situation, knowing he was probably playing with his sleeves anxiously staring at the classroom door waiting for you to walk in. he tried to quickly rack through his head for some ideas to help his dearest friend in this situation. his eyes lighting up ecstatically when he had finally figured out the perfect plan, one that was sure to work perfectly for sunghoon.

heeseung: go on a date with y/n

heeseung: all three of you go on a date with y/n to be exact

however, his message had more to what it said. he could feel a proud grin growing on his face at his plan finally making sense in his head. to make it more clear, this plan obviously had some sort of advantage for his best friend.

three dates, all with you. what more could you add to a perfect plan like that? all he need to do next was convince you to go on those three dates.

which could be an easy task... hopefully?

#hybenet #lsn.works #prism.nw #enhypenwriters #enhypen imagines #enhypen scenarios #enhypen x reader #enhypen fluff #enhypen drabbles #enhypen timestamps #kpop imagines #kpop scenarios #kpop fluff

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sserpente · 3 years

Text

Pastel Blue (Chapter 11)

Synopsis: After his lucky escape, the Tesseract takes Loki on new adventures–but unfortunately, his journeys through space do not go unnoticed and he soon ends up on the TVA’s radar. Working for them, albeit reluctantly, he keeps finding himself in the company of a young woman, Jess, who works in the linguistics department and who has a truly strange effect on him. Smitten by her confidence and smugness, he seeks her presence like a bee hunting for honey and lets her wreak havoc in his heart without really knowing why. But he is determined to find out. He means to escape his new prison anyway.

Find all chapters on my masterlist! ♥

A/N: Long chapter, ahoy!

Loki gasped for air, the stench of smoke, debris, blood and even burned flesh filling his lungs. It had not taken him long to get the strange device the TVA used on the regular to work and yet, right before stepping through the orange glowing portal, throwing eerie shadows on his face, he had faced doubt.

This plan was all but short notice and for just a brief moment, he wondered whether it was a plan at all, for at the very moment he left the TVA for good, he knew he’d have to improvise. Now he was standing there, watching his own demise unfold hidden behind broken pieces of what used to be a sanctuary for the Asgardian people.

It felt odd, being here, knowing that this was had happened to him but at the very same time, only would have happened to him had he not taken the Tesseract and escaped Odin’s clutches once and for all. It was almost ironic now how the Alfather hadn’t had him executed after all.

Mobius should have never shown him his timeline. Every word, every ounce of information—he would now use it all against them. The Loki he watched from afar, producing the desired object he so craved in his hands, was a different man and yet, the pull he felt towards him was almost overwhelming. No, he corrected himself. Not to himself. To the blue cube in his hands.

He knew what would happen next. Loki would give the Hulk a cue to attack and hopefully distract Thanos long enough for him to attract… well, his own attention. All he needed was the right moment.

Only he himself knew his magical signature—it resembled Frigga’s so greatly his other self would recognise it instantly. Loki stretched out his hand, spreading his fingers apart to send a cluster of shimmering green energy his way. It was strong enough to make him aware of his presence but quite clearly, weak enough to not threaten him. Loki knew his own temper. He would not take kindly to someone attempting to attack him from behind.

His other self narrowed his eyes disappearing quickly to investigate the source of the familiar, yet unexpected disruption.

In the meantime, Loki’s telekinetic abilities took care of the rest. With but a swift movement of his hand, the Tesseract came flying into his hand, undetected by the Black Order watching the battle between the green rage monster and their master unfold and Thor… Thor was struggling with himself.

Loki lifted his head. There was a chance the mad titan would kill him if he kept the cube to himself and disappeared, leaving his brother behind but if what Mobius had shown him on his tape was to be believed, the God of Thunder was to survive regardless of his presence.

The God of Mischief swallowed and turned back around—facing himself. He smiled, raising his arms in an attempt to show him he meant no harm. It must have looked ridiculous with him wearing the full TVA attire as opposed to his armour.

“I believe I have some explaining to do.”

“What kind of trick is this supposed to be?”

“No trick. I am you—from the future… it is… a bit more complicated than it probably sounds.”

“Me? From the future?” The other Loki laughed. “Right. Well, as much as I would like to chat about this lie, we are in a bit of a pressing situation here. So get out of my way, Trickster.”

Loki rolled his eyes. Well, he knew he wasn’t easy to convince.

“Ah, you see, that is why I am here. If you go back out there, hand over the Tesseract and, quite frankly, attempt to stab Thanos, you will die.”

“And yet here you are, telling me I will live, I presume.”

“If you do as I say you will, Loki.” Heavens, this was strange… strange and awkward. “Listen, we do not have much time. All you need to know for now is that in my reality, I managed to escape the Avengers before we were brought back to Asgard in the expectation of being executed and then the Time Variance Authority arrested me—us—for alleged crimes against the ‘sacred timeline’.” He took a deep breath, retelling everything except for what had happened between him and Jess in the fastest way possible. Only then did the other Loki finally agree that there must have been some truth to what he was being sold.

“And how do you expect us to get away if the TVA is after you in this very moment? How can you guarantee me that they won’t target me after I leave you the Tesseract?”

Loki tilted his head and winked at his other self. “Easy—I will be you.”

There was a good chance that this would not work. Merging one’s consciousness with someone else’s was dangerous and risky. It was an ancient spell, one that had taken many victims over millennia. Frigga himself had told him to stay away from such hazardous seidr and before this day, he had never even considered it. But he could not risk another version of himself running around, not with the TVA on his heels—not to mention the number of memories he would be absorbing. Memories, thoughts and feelings that were his own and yet, at the very same time… they were not. He did not want them back, not really—his future had brought nothing but more pain and suffering… but they were his nonetheless. The Avengers had already taken too much from him and ultimately… he would not be merging with another person, a stranger or an outsider. He would be merging with himself, to keep the TVA from coming after a Variant that he had created.

The other Loki shook his head slowly, instant understanding spreading on his bloody and dirty face. “This is madness.”

“Oh, things are about to get much madder than they are now,” Loki reassured him, his smirk both playful and somewhat pained.

Now there was a possibility that his presence here had already created a branch but then again… the rest of the Arc was to be destroyed, was it not? It was the main reason as to why he took one last regretful look at Thor and then nodded to himself.

“Now.” He announced, determination swinging in his smooth voice. He held out his hand, offering it to himself. If they failed now, they would likely both be dead. But it was worth the risk. It was worth his freedom to do as he pleased.

“What of Thor?”

“Have you ever seen our brother fail to defeat the villain?” Loki smirked, praying to the Norns that his intuition was not deceiving him—that Thor would indeed survive even in a diverging branch.

And then, finally, the other Loki took his hand and they exchanged one final glance before they were enveloped in a hue of green mist, concealing their forms completely. Loki dropped to his knees when the weight of his future self’s memories crushed into his skull like thousands of sharp needles, forcing one image after the next into his brain. Dozens of emotions and sensations coursed through him at once, making him groan as he squeezed the Tesseract in his hands, feelings its powers and letting it comfort him.

He only had a few more seconds until Thor would notice his absence. He needed to get away from here—as far away from Thanos and as far away from the TVA as possible. They were not going to decide his fate, not this time around. The Tesseract glowed in his hand, buzzing with energy, sensing his anxiety. The portal, blue, foggy and all but breath-taking, opened up and swallowed him whole before he could will the Infinity Stone to a specific location.

~*~

Loki gasped for breath as he was hurled through the air, his guts seemingly getting rearranged. Sick to the very core of his being, he hit the ground with a loud thud, his bones and muscles protesting upon hitting the hard asphalt. He should have expected this though, for the first few times he had travelled using the power of the Tesseract, its true capacity had been contained by refined technology. He should consider himself lucky, now that it had unleashed its full potential, that the journey had not killed him.

That would have resulted in a disastrous and quite frankly, embarrassing ending to a god like him, especially after rebirthing Surtur, defeating the goddess of death and lastly, escaping the clutches of the mad titan once more.

Perhaps he should not have left Thor on the Arc after all. Remorse was gnawing at his guts much like it had when he had watched an all naked Jess fighting her tears on his bed, making him question his precipitate decision and yet he knew it had had to be done. His brother would do well without him this time and as long as Thanos did not get his hands on the Tesseract, both he and the universe would be safe in whatever branch it was he had created.

His latter thought, however, brought him to his next concern. Where was he? His surroundings did look familiar—the streets, the buildings, cars and busses… he was on Earth, only… when? This place he had so ungracefully landed in, in the middle of the pavement, mind you, did look nothing like the planet he had once attempted to subjugate.

Loki grunted, sitting up and brushing the dust off his clothes before any humans around him would begin paying him attention, let alone ask unnecessary questions, his limbs still aching from the travel through the portal and his throat burning to the point he feared it would go up in flames.

All of his environment was… old-fashioned, so he finally realised. The means of transport were hardly as modern and efficient as they were on Earth the way he knew it, as was the design of the many buildings around him. It must have been New York City but when?

Loki took a deep breath. First, he’d have to blend in. Within a matter of seconds and without so much as blinking, he swapped his battered TVA outfit for a black suit, much like the one he had worn not so long ago when looking for his adopted father with Thor. His fingers were still clutching the Tesseract tightly. He frowned at it before letting it disappear. Where have you brought me?, he thought as he walked down the street for a while, uncertain of what it was he was looking for. He was safe at least, so he knew. If the space stone had truly brought him to a different time period this time around, Thanos would never find him here. This should buy Thor enough time to stop him and put an end to his ridiculous genocide plans once and for all.

There was a building towering up into the sky—a precursor to modern skyscrapers, he presumed and ironically, it stood in the exact spot Stark Tower would later be erected. For now, a faded sign on top of the squalid construction spelled out hotel in yellow letters.

Loki sighed. Well, he did need a place to stay in, to collect his thoughts and to scheme his next steps. It was obvious he could not stay here but for now, a hotel room would do to catch his breath and perhaps even rest. He had not done so since their unglamorous escape from Sakaar and his reluctant arrival at the TVA and even though he was a god, the exhaustion kept creeping into his body like ice, aiming to immobilise each of his limbs especially now that he called memories he had not truly experienced his own. Besides, he still felt a little nauseous from the journey which at least he knew to be a side effect of using a powerful and ancient artefact to travel. The TVA was likely already on its way anyway.

Loki stepped into the hotel, taking in sparse but at least elegant furnishing and an obtrusive smell of damp leather as he approached the counter. There was no one there but what he did notice was a clunky computer with a yellowed keyboard, a stack of paper with handwritten notes on them and a golden bell on the smooth surface. Impatiently, he pressed down on it, sending a shrill noise through the reception room. A response followed almost immediately.

“I’m coming!” Loki rolled his eyes. He could hear paper rustling in the nearby room whose door was open a smidge. So he waited, his eyes darting across the room. There was a newspaper on a display shelf right next to the reception. A human would not have been able to make out anything but the headlines from where he stood, Loki on the other hand, could read it perfectly fine.

Friday, June 20, 1975. So he had ended up in the 70s. Oh, this was just great.

Someone—the very same person who had announced its service—cursing silently followed the initial life sign until a middle-aged woman stepped out of the small room and plopped herself down on the empty swivel chair behind the reception.

“Welcome to the Midtown Manhattan City Hotel, how can I help you?” Her monotone voice gave away her lack of excitement upon greeting her new customer, even when looking him straight in the eye. She did not recognise him in any way then. Despite his current predicament, he took that as a good sign.

“Considering that this facility is a hotel, I would like to get a room.” He responded matter-of-factly. The woman raised her eyebrows.

“We charge thirty-five dollars for single rooms and forty dollars for double rooms, per night. Are you paying cash or card?”

“A double room will do for my standards. I am paying cash.” Loki spoke as charmingly as he could muster even though he longed to snap at the woman for her poor and unmotivated service. Truth be told, he was cross with the fact the Tesseract had, for whatever reason, decided to send him not only to Midgard of all places but another time on top of that and that made him antsy. Loki knew since the TVA that bad things could happen to people messing with the very fabric of the past, the present and the future. One branch was bad enough.

For now, he settled for a forced smile all the while the receptionist fetched his keys and then proceeded to just kept staring at him rudely like he was slow on the uptake. “We take payment up front.” She pointed out to him eventually, raising her eyebrows even higher. The dark blue rectangle glasses on her nose did not at all match the shape of her face. Loki resisted the urge to roll his eyes once more.

“You do not.” He said, mumbling an incantation in his mind at the very same time. “As soon as you have handed me my keys, you will forget I have not paid yet.” The receptionist blinked, then she offered Loki the key. Room 468, the heavy keychain read. Good. The higher up, the better. “I might be staying for a while.” He announced, ignoring how dazed the spell to make people forget had made her. She merely nodded and lastly asked for his name to type into the clunky computer before her.

Loki settled for Donald Blake. He knew it was an Alias Thor had used on Midgard in the past. It would do for now. Loki Odinson, let alone Dan Cooper just might attract any unwanted attention.

“Are you a local?” The woman probed.

“Yes,” he answered quickly. “Why?”

“We ask our foreign guests for passports and you don’t sound like you’re from around here.”

“Well, I am.”

The receptionist nodded with pursed lips, eager to get rid of him now. “Enjoy your stay.”

Finally. Loki headed over to the elevator—a much more pathetic construction than what he was used to considering Stark Tower enjoyed the latest technology but as long as it brought him to his room where he could finally close his eyes for a moment and contemplate his next moves, he would not waste his energy to complain.

The thumbed buttons had numbers engraved in them, indicating the room numbers on the respective floor. Loki pressed number four languidly, then leaned back against the papered wall. He was not going to deny he felt a little ridiculous, even more so when getting off and searching for the door number matching the keychain he was clutching tightly. However, desperate times called for desperate measures and he found himself relieved when he found the right door, unlocked it and slid inside the hotel room.

Thick carpets covered the floor as he inspected his temporary living condition, the pattern and colour of the wallpaper downright hideous. The furniture was poor. A common double bed with clean white bedsheets, two nightstands to either side of it, a vanity with an oval mirror and a small stool opposite the foot of the bed and a ridiculously small wardrobe. A separate door presumably led to an equally small bath area for him to wash.

Loki did just that first. His Midgardian clothes melted off of his body with a sigh escaping his lips as he climbed in eagerly. The tiny shower stall was all but pathetic compared to his spacious bathtub back in his chambers on Asgard but it would have to do. Naked, he stepped inside, quickly figured out how to work the Midgardian construction and groaned in relief when the warm droplets hit his bare skin, washing all the grime and dust from the Arc off of himself. He cleaned his body first, then tended to his raven hair.

Once he felt clean enough again, he barely bothered to dry himself off properly, let alone conjure up some comfortable clothes for him to wear before he staggered back into the main part of the hotel room towards the bed and let his head hit the pillow.

~*~

Loki awoke to a whimpering noise. Grumbling to himself, he forced his still drowsy body to sit up, blue eyes scanning his environment. He had made sure to lock the room with his seidr—and unless Thanos or the TVA had found a way to hunt him down after all, it would be impossible for anyone to break the magical barrier he had created.

And yet, he was not alone anymore. There was someone cowering in the corner.

Fully awake with a start, he stood, ready to conjure up a dagger to defend himself.

“Who are you?” The question came out sharper than he had anticipated—but he had learned over the last few years to trust no one. She, it was a woman, could be one of Thanos’ allies after all, someone sent after him to capture or kill him or a Minuteman in disguise. And while usually, he was the one met with hostility, he’d gladly return the favour for once.

Narrowing his eyes, he studied her pitiful appearance a little further. She seemed startled, even more so when she realised Loki had noticed her presence—almost as if she had no idea how she had gotten here in the first place.

Despite her nakedness, the only thing Loki could make out she was wearing was a harness. A complicated chain construction made entirely of pure silver enveloping her entire upper body. Her feet were bare too, yet both her fingernails and toenails adorned the same colour as her lips. He doubted she had painted them to look the part.

The woman failed to answer at first. Instead, she studied her hands like she was only just discovering her own body. With her lips parted, she finally lifted her gaze to meet his, sending waves of pure electricity through Loki’s body. It felt like his soul recognised hers.

She was trembling, naked and as pale as faint moonlight. Loki had no doubt she was anything but human despite her fragile appearance, if anything because of her unusual hair colour. It was of a faint pastel blue, matching her bright blue, almost glowing eyes when she looked up to face him. They reminded him of an ocean—deeper and more mysterious than any of the seven seas could ever be. Even her lips, so he realised, were pastel blue but shimmering violet in the rising sun fighting its way through the windows of the small hotel room and warming it with its beams.

But that was impossible, no? Her face… Loki’s lips parted.

“Jess?”

~*~

🧊

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fluffymisha97 · 3 years

Text

Falling, Fallen - Part 3 - 1/2

Summary: The next date couldn’t possibly go as wrong as the first one.

Warnings: Language.

Word count: 3,512

About a week later, Chris had thought of everything. Had anyone asked him, he would say that he’d come up with a brilliant plan. Although he did ask Scott for advice in the beginning. The little brother was more than happy to help out. He could see how much it meant to Chris. Anything to help out a brother.

The day couldn’t and wouldn’t end as badly as your first date. That was something Chris had decided on. He’d texted you on Wednesday asking if you’d plans for the weekend. Luckily, you didn’t have any plans. Chris decided on taking you out Saturday around noon. You were both excited for your date and none of you could hardly wait.

When Saturday came, you’d been waiting by the window looking down the parking spaces in front of your building. A car honk was all you needed to know that he’d arrived. He waited by his car as you came down the stairs inside the apartment building. You smiled as you spotted Chris outside. You briefly heard Abby yell out something a la ‘have fun and don’t do anything I wouldn’t’. You stepped outside in the cold breeze and walked towards Chris.

“Hi.”

“Hey.”

Chris awkwardly went back and forth between going for a hug or a handshake. It ended up being a very odd handshake with a halfway sided hug. Chris cringed inside. Great start. You hadn’t given it much thought and stuffed your hands inside the warmth of your

“So, where are we going?”

“It’s a surprise for now.”

“Exciting… Although I should probably be a little more cautious when getting into a car with someone I don’t know all that well. Stranger danger and everything.”

Chris flashed you a smile as he opened the door for you.

“It’s a good thing that you know me a little bit then?”

“We’ll see. Hopefully you aren’t an axe murdering movie-star.”

“Nope, just me.”

You climbed into the already warm car and buckled up. You watched as Chris took a few long strides around the car and then gracefully getting in. He smiled at you as he typed in an address on the GPS. You fiddled with your hands as you prepared yourself mentally for what the day would bring.

“Besides think about all the work murdering me would bring you. I mean disposing the body, cleaning the crime scene and so forth on.”

“Yeah, that does seem like a lot of work. Plus, I’ll probably end up unraveling the truth about the murder anyway.”

“Aww, that makes me feel a little bit better. I think.”

Chris laughed with you. It felt like you were trying to break the ice for him. The two of you chatted non-stop as the radio hummed in the background. It was insane how easy it was to talk with Chris. He talked and then listened at all the right moments. He mostly listened to you wanting to know everything about you. He enjoyed hearing your voice. It was a nice speaking voice and it turned out that you were also gifted with a nice singing voice.

Chris had given you his phone so that you could find some music. You shuffled through some of his many playlists and found one that made you smile.

“So, uh…Chris, tell me something… Are you a fan of Grease?”

“Well I…I… Depends on if you think it’s kinda loser-ish of me to have a playlist called ‘My Grease groove’.”

You could tell you made him nervous and self-conscious about a lot of things apparently. You pressed play and the tune of ‘Summer Nights’ filled the car.

“I happen to love Grease.”

Chris breathed out in relief as he saw your smile out the corner of his eye. You softly sang along to many of the songs and Chris mostly listened and hummed along every now and again.

The drive lasted about 45 minutes which flew in a hurry. Chris parked the car outside what looked like a hall. You dreaded it was a gym center or something like that. As you were getting out, Chris who’d opened your door held up a blind fold which made you narrow your eyes a bit.

“Okay now seeing where we’re…I’m beginning to circle back to the ‘what if’. What if you’re an axe murdering person?”

“Only kidding. C’mon.”

Chris smirked at you and gestured for you to walk ahead. You scanned the place for any signs that would tell you where you were. Mostly because you were so curious to see where you were going.

“So, Y/N. you’re probably wondering what we’re to do out here, yes?”

You nodded your head as Chris continued walking towards a backdoor entrance. He opened the door for you and as you got inside you started to realize just where exactly you were. Or what kind of place it really was. Chris came to stand in front of you with arms wide as he gestured to the room. He sported a very happy face as he watched you.

“What’s your take on Ice skating?”

“The sport genre or my ability to do it?”

“What do you think?”

“Well, I’m probably pretty decent at it but-…”

You and Chris were interrupted by a hoarse voice behind you. An elderly man appeared as you turned around.

“Mr. Evans, I got the rink ready for you and your date. If you’d follow me- Oh, I’m going to need your shoe size, Miss.”

You told him your size and followed the two men leading you to a skating rink. All ready and polished. You felt giddy inside. But something was off. Chris, the man called Sal, and you were the only people in the room.

“Hey, did you rent this entire place?”

“Well…not the entire place just this rink.”

You were completely baffled at this. Never had anyone done something like that for you. Sal came back with two sets of ice skates and gave them to you and Chris.

“Thanks a lot Sal. I’ll be sure to tell my sister to book her son’s birthday party out here.”

“You do that, son. Remember: Sal’s skates is for everyone all shapes, sizes and ages. Now, you two go and have fun.”

You giggled hearing the sales pitch Sal shouted out enthusiastically and sat down to put on your skates. Chris sat down next to you and put on his own. You were much quicker than Chris and already up on your feet when were still working on securing his first skate.

You carefully stepped onto the ice while holding onto the wall for ‘support’.

“So, when I said that I was decent on ice I should’ve probably elaborated.”

Chris looked at you puzzled as you leapt of the wall and started skating with pace and grace that clearly showed that you were no amateur. You skated a few rounds wanting to get warm and went right back the latch where Chris stood with a gaping mouth.

“I’m not just decent, I’m kind of great at skating.”

You bit your lip and offered the gaping Chris a nervous smile.

“Well okay then Tonya Harding.”

You could tell that Chris was still a bit in shock over your confession. It was clear that he hadn’t seen this coming.

“No, no. I’m nowhere near her. Brilliant lady but kind of insane the way things turned out.”

Chris let out a dry chuckle as he ventured out on the ice. He seemed a bit unsteady on his feet. You skated around in circles waiting for Chris to join you when a thought popped into your head. You moved back so you were in front of Chris.

“So, what was the idea or the plan of taking me out here?”

“Plan?”

“Yeah? I mean you must’ve given this some thought. Maybe you thought about taking me bowling but then you ditched that idea and came up with going ice skating. Maybe you assumed or hoped that I wasn’t that good at it? And that I would probably need to lean on you for support or that we would have to hold hands so I wouldn’t fall flat on my ass in front of you. That way we would’ve established the psychical contact… Tell me that wasn’t something you thought of while planning this?”

Chris cringed hard inside for the second time. Was he really that transparent? Had he lost his game and had become this mediocre halfway loser with absolutely no game? His nervous smile gave him away instantly.

“Nooo? Of course not.”

“Has anyone ever told you that you got the worst poker face?”

Chris looked down feeling dumb. You weren’t mad or offended. You hadn’t meant to make him feel like you were calling him out. Even though that’s what you’d gone and done. Now it was your turn to cringe inside. The sound of whistling made him look up.

“Are you going to stay over there or are you going to join me out here? The water’s fine.”

Chris nervously laughed as he moved further out on the ice still a bit wobbly. Chris started regretting his decision as he watched you skate around gracefully while he felt like an elephant inside a porcelain shop.

“C’mon, Chris. I’m sorry if I was a little too harsh but- I think it’s a shame not to take advantage of being here.”

“No it’s not that… I guess, I over- and underestimated this situation both you and myself. I wanted to do something outside the box and in the haste of wanting to get this day right I forgot how bad I really am at ice skating. That was that brilliant yet stupid plan right out the window.”

You giggled softly at the still wobbly Chris and inched closer to him slowly.

“Okay, okay. Maybe your plan is still doable but maybe not in the way that you’d hoped for. Here, take my hand.”

Chris stilled and looked at you.

“What?”

“Hold my hand, Mr. Bold. I promise I won’t tell anyone.”

Chris reached out and grabbed your smaller hand in his larger one. You started to move bringing Chris with you. The two of you skated in circles in a slow but comfortable pace. Chris smiled widely feeling confident and went to release your hand only to start wobbling a bit again. You could see Chris face falter. He quickly wrapped his arm around your waist with his right hand and the left hand found your still extended hand. Soon he felt himself being steadied. He breathed out in relief. You titled your head and smirked. He was now holding one of your hands and the other arm was wrapped around your waist.

“Now that was real smooth.”

“What?”

You couldn’t decide if he was truly a bit thickheaded to see his move clearly or if he had in fact been on his way to fall flat on the ice. You decided that it didn’t matter. Being that close to Chris wasn’t the worst thing in the world. Not even close. Your right hand moved so that it rested on top of the hand on your waist. You saw Chris smile briefly out of the corner of your eye. The two of you went a few rounds like that. It was no secret that both you and Chris enjoyed the closeness while skating. You tried calming yourself down knowing that this was only your second date and that you ought to chill out, like your friend Emmett would say. ‘Chill out girl, and relax.’

“So, tell me Miss ‘Harding’ did you ever do some professional skating or are you just this good all on your own?”

“I did very, very little when I was a kid but nothing worth writing about. But I guess I’ve just always enjoyed skating. I go a few times every year to keep on practicing. Lame I know.”

“Nothing about you is lame, Y/N.”

You shared a sideways smile as you picked up the pace skating in circular motions in the empty rink. Chris listened as you went on about things from your childhood and then asking him about his childhood. He told you about his siblings and the way that they were brought up. Just hearing about his family made you smile. It was clear to you that he came from a family filled with lots of love. His love for his mother shined through when he’d talked about her. You liked listening to Chris talking about everything and nothing. You enjoyed your conversations just as much as he liked them.

The two of you skated for some time. Truth be told, you’d lost track of time during the time you’d spent with him. You smiled at Chris who seemed to also enjoy himself on the ice. Chris started feeling a little more confident as he took the lead and picked up the pace. He even did a little cross with his feet. He looked very proud which only made him look all the more cute to you. He let go of your waist and readied himself for letting go completely. He gently let go of your hand and skated on his own. Chris flashed you a wide smile as he picked up the pace even further. A smirk even appeared on his face as gracefully skated past you in a circular move.

“Wow, look at you. Quick learner I see.”

“Yeah! Well, it’s like riding a bike I suppose. I guess, I was just a bit rusty-AHH!”

Just as he was showing off to you he lost his balance and fell right backwards. Your hands went up to cover your eyes as you saw the whole thing play out in slow motion. You heard a breathy groan which made you look at the scene before your eyes. Chris was lying on his back breathing hard as he raised his head to look at you. You went over to him and bent down to him.

“Chris! Oh my God. Are you okay?”

Chris didn’t answer you straight away and seemed to have trouble looking you in the eye. You instantly feared that he’d hit his head on the ice. You maneuvered so that you kneeled down on the ice and were leaning down to examine him closer.

“Hey look at me. How many fingers am I holding up? Do you know your name? Where you’re right now. Do you know who I am? Are you hurt anywhere-…?”

Your nervous rambling was caught off by Chris’ hoarse and breathy laugh.

“Depends. That was a whole lot of questions.”

You let out a breath of relief hearing him talk.

“My ego’s probably the most wounded…I had this horrible dream where I brought this great girl out here to impress her and only ended up botching this date because I got too cocky.”

You felt yourself smile at that. Chris leaned up on his elbows and pretended to look around as shock appeared on his face.

“OH no…It wasn’t a dream.”

He made a pouty face and looked down.

“Hey, you haven’t botched anything.”

“So, you don’t think I’m a transparent doofus?”

“Well, maybe you’re a little bit transparent but-…”

You sheepishly smiled at him as he let himself gently fall backwards on the ice with a groan.

“Just let me die here of humiliation and embarrassment.”

“God, you movie stars truly have a flair for the dramatics.”

Chris snorted at your comment but well knowing that you were absolutely right. You gently patted his arm making him look at you.

“C’mon, big guy. Up, up.”

You helped Chris upright with ease while still looking him over with worried eyes. He had just fallen quite hard.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yup, yup. I’m okay. Luckily my ass broke the fall.” “You want to go and sit down? Just for a while.” “Sure. Let’s do that.” The two of you slowly skated over to the latch door and Chris went out first. Chris sat down on one of the benches. You carefully went over and sat down next to him.

“So apart from falling flat on my ass in front of you just now, I hoped that you still liked it here.”

“I thought it was a great idea, Chris. Something outside the box.”

“Well, then I have a small plea for you. Or more of a question.”

You nodded your head at him.

“Could we pretend that this was our first date considering that our first was a bust? Clean slate and everything. Although I didn’t make a fool out of myself that other day so maybe it was a bad idea to even-…”

“Chris, it’s cool. This is officially our first date then.”

Chris gave you a grin thankful that you were on. This date had to be great. He wanted everything right to go right.

“Hey, what do you say we get out of here? Unless you want to go back on the ice. I mean we can go if you want to. You looked like you were enjoying yourself.”

“It’s all good, Chris. I think you’ve had enough ice time for now.”

The two of you took of your skates and went to clerk where you handed them in. Sal came over and quietly shook hands with Chris.

“I hope you kids had fun. It looked like it. I must say that you miss, looked like you knew exactly what you were doing. Say, have you ever done some competitively skating?”

“I did very little when I was a kid but nothing big.”

“You looked like you belonged on the ice. I think Mr. Evans would agree with me.”

Chris only nodded in awe which you felt was totally misguided. Your cheeks felt warm as you felt the two men staring at you. Chris shook hands with Sal while you were putting on your gloves.

“Thanks a lot for today, Sal. I appreciate it.”

“Don’t mention it.”

You were getting ready to exit when Chris excused himself to go to the bathroom. You leaned against the counter as you waited. Sal remained behind the counter as he arranged some papers or so.

“So tell me Sal, did you really let him rent an entire hall because he’s famous or?”

“Tell you what, I’ve known him for some time and I would’ve probably let him anyway. That guy’s a good young man. He’s decent that’s for sure.”

“So, he’s brought other girls here too or what do you mean, Sal?”

“Naah, I’ve only ever seen him here with his family. He’s a family man no doubt.”

Sal winked at you and went to answer his phone ringing in his pocket.

Chris came jogging over to you and gestured for you two to walk outside again. As you reached his car, you gave Chris a questionable look.

“Are you sure that you’re okay to drive? You did fall pretty hard…”

“Yeah, I’m fine but if it makes you feel better then-… Here.”

Chris tossed you his car keys. You let out a small gasp.

“Wait- you would let me drive your car just like that?”

“Sure. Unless you would rather not to-…”

“Nooo, it’s all good.”

You grinned and practically jumped over to the driver’s side. Chris chuckled at your enthusiastic laugh and got in the passenger’s seat. You buckled in and started the car. It was defiantly something else than your own. Chris typed in the new address for your next destination. Then you were off to God knows where. Still you’d never felt more safe with Chris by your side.

The drive was about 30 minutes or so, Chris pointed to an exit where the two of you switched places.

“I wanted to keep going with the element of surprise.”

You didn’t mind and Chris seemed very okay to drive. Although he only drove for about maximum of 5 minutes before he’d parked by what looked like field. Chris had beaten you to open your door, he gently grabbed one of your hands and led you closer to wherever you were going.

“Close your eyes.”

You narrowed your eyes slightly but did as he’d asked.

“Tell me what you smell now.”

“Smell, what do you mean?”

“Just go with me on this. Try to take a deep whiff.”

Again, you did as he told. Inhaling, you could suddenly smell all kinds of smells. Confused, you found yourself inhaling like an asthmatic snail.

“Okay maybe I’m way off here, but I smell cotton candy and popcorn but aren’t we out in the middle of nowhere?”

“Well, yes and no. You’re in fact right, cos if you open your eyes you’ll find out just where we’re right now.”

Slowly you opened your eyes and discovered that you were now standing at by the entrance of a funfair or something that looked like a Carnival. You couldn’t hide your shocked state nor excitement. You were definitely liking where this was going. Chris beamed as he watched your happy face as it lit up.

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